The flight of steps inside Kali Kaman are from a cloth dyeing shop called Banaras Polishing Centre. The keys to the room with steps leading to the top of Machili Kaman are with the caretaker of a chilla , a religious place.
The keys of Sehr-e-Batil Kaman are a mystery. The custodian of keys for the Charminar Charkaman is the owner of a shop selling perfumes. This complicated ownership and use of the four arches near Charminar sum up the challenges that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is up against as it has embarked on conserving key parts of the Charminar piazza.
The four arches near Charminar with the Gulzar Houz fountain in the middle were built along with Charminar in 1591. While Charminar has always been seen as a protected monument worth preserving, the four Kamans have been allowed to go to seed with encroachers having a field day.
Damage done
A three storeyed house has been built into the Kali Kaman with a sewerage pipe running through the heritage structure. Now the house has been abandoned but the damage is done. “Many pehelwans keep coming and checking out the house. They want to take control of it,” said a jewellery shop owner near Kali Kaman.
The current effort at restoring the Kamans began on October 20 with Laxmi Hericon, a Mumbai-based firm into conservation, winning the contract for ₹87 lakh. While scaffoldings have been partially raised around Machili Kaman and Kali Kaman, work is yet to begin on the other two arches.
Residents’support
“We have taken the local Corporator, people and shopkeepers into confidence. There is no opposition to the restoration as used to happen earlier. Work has begun inside the two kamans where workers are removing latter day additions to the monument. The monuments are structurally very stable despite years of abuse,” said a GHMC engineer responsible for the project.
The structure which is in urgent need of repair is the western arch known as Sehr-e-Batil Kaman (arch of false magic) which led to the palace complex when it was built. Now only the monolithic doorframe gives a hint of the glorious days.
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While one side of the kaman has an Alam kept in a small green room with an earthen lamp, the other side is occupied by the caretaker of a temple. “I have come here only a few days back. I don’t know where the stairs are from,” said the caretaker from inside room built into the ground floor of the Kaman.
Built with limestone mortar and dressed stones, the four Kamans are still robust albeit with flaking plaster and a few dislodged stones.
“We are expecting to finish the work by May of 2018. If everything goes as per schedule we will have the Kamans restored in a manner that they will look rock solid for a few hundred more years,” said the GHMC official.
