There was a time when the common man could not afford clocks. Only Royalty and aristocrats could afford to buy them.
Four face
To make it convenient for everyone, tall clock towers were built in the heart of the town.
This could be easily seen from everywhere. Clock towers were generally built with four faces, facing four different directions.
“The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secundrabad have the unique distinction of having four ‘true' clock towers.
There are numerous ‘false' ones, which are buildings with clocks mounted onto them usually at a later date,” says Ms Madhu Vottery, the author of book A Guide to the Heritage of Hyderabad: The Natural and the Built.
Secunderabad Clock Tower
Located on the Secunderabad Railway Station Road, the Clock Tower was constructed in 1860 by the British.
The clocks on the tower were donated by a businessman, Dewan Bahadur Seth Lachmi Narayan Ramgopal.
The classical European tower is square and soars up in three stages to a cubic segment housing the clock works.
This Clock Tower was awarded the INTACH Heritage Award in 2005.
Mahboob Chowk Clock Tower
The Mahboob Chowk, a historic city square is located at a short distance from the Lad Bazar to the west of Charminar in Hyderabad. The elegant tower in an Indo-European synthesis style, was constructed in 1892 by Asman Jah, the Prime Minister of Hyderabad.
It is a four-faced, free-standing structure, built in four segments. This Clock Tower was given the INTACH Heritage Award in 2008.
Sultan Bazaar Clock Tower
The British Residency was constructed, north of the Musi in 1805.
The clock tower was built several years later in 1865.
At present, it stands in the busy locality of the Sultan Bazaar and goes quite unnoticed because of the buildings that have come up around it.
Structurally, it is quite simple, with a square shaped base.
Fateh Maidan Clock Tower
The Fateh Maidan Clock Tower stands at the crossing where the Bashir Bagh flyover ends. Nawab Zafar Yar Jung Bahadur, the youngest son of Sir Khursheed Jah Bahadur, who was the minister for defence in the Nizam's government, laid its foundation in 1903. The Nawab personally paid for the entire construction of the clock tower and the sixth Nizam inaugurated it on his silver jubilee.
The clock tower has Gothic pointed arches on all four sides of the base.
Today, these clock towers serve as aesthetic, historical monuments.
However, at one time they were the most important structures, helping the people of the town, plan their days.
These towers have stood the test of time and have seen more than 200 years of development around them.
It is imperative for us to protect and preserve these timeless milestones of our history.
