hy is the Doll House behind the Koti Residency building in the Koti Women’s College premises called so? And what was its purpose? Was it really built for Khairunnisa, the wife of resident James Achilles Kirkpatrick, who couldn’t enter the main structure, or was it actually a scale model built prior to construction of the edifice?
With little information at hand, the origins and purpose of the miniature model, which received a citation from the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) recently, are still shrouded in mystery. While that may be so, the good news is that the white marble structure is now almost back to life, thanks to the Deccan Heritage Foundation.
A few theories exist about its origin. According to the romantic version, it was built for Khairunnisa. However, it is now believed that the Doll House could predate the Residency Building itself. Architect Sarat Chandra, who is working on its restoration, said that it could be treatise. “Whenever you construct such a building, you need to build a scale model. But we don’t know if that was done here, because we don’t know the exact date,” he added. Mr. Chandra explained that some of the architectural elements in the Doll House they found were the same as the Residency Building, hence he is inclined to believe that the model predates the latter. “For example, we found wooden beams and circular columns which were similar. Anuradha Naik also found archival evidence of the model, i.e. two videos from the Cambridge University library,” he said.
William Dalrymple, who authored White Mughals, a book on the love story of James Achilles Kirkpatrick and Khairunnisa, also said that there is only speculation about the Doll House’s origins. He added that it could be called so as it is located in what could have been the children’s area back when the Residency building was constructed in the early 20{+t}{+h}century. Mr. Chandra also agreed with this, as he said that doll houses are commonly found in European villas. Lying in the garden behind the Residency Building, the Doll House is now almost restored, with work going on in full swing. When work began last July, apart from the plinth, only the north and south-eastern portions of the Doll House were intact, as a mahogany tree had crashed into it some years ago. Currently in the final stages of restoration, it will take a month more for it to be ready.
Two fountains, pathway discovered
But apart from restoration of the Doll House, heritage conservationists and lovers might be delighted to know that two fountains and a pathway were discovered recently in the garden area. What makes it interesting is that both of them are aligned in a straight line axis with the model. “The next phase of restoration is to restore the garden,” mentioned Mr. Chandra.
Mr. Chandra added that the director of the State Department of Archaeology will conduct a scientific investigation, which will then be used to restore the ‘Rang Mahal’ garden in the coming days.
