The final piece of the jigsaw puzzle fell into place as workers assembled pieces of the copper finial on top of one of the Hakims’ tombs at the Qutb Shahi tombs complex.
It replaced the concrete replica that was built in place of the original copper one sometime in the 70s. “We did a mock up on the site in the afternoon with all the 14 pieces and how they would fit and in what order, and then carried out the same exercise once the wooden pole was affixed to the top of the dome,” said Prashant Banerjee of Aga Khan Trust for Culture, who was on the spot supervising the work.
The restoration of the pair of tombs popularly known as Hakims’ tombs is part of the second phase of the conservation work undertaken by the Department of Archaeology and Museums and the architects working on the site realised that one of the finial was a concrete one made to look like a normal one. The other tomb had the top conical piece missing. Luckily, during excavation of the crypt of fourth Golconda king Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the team discovered the copper conical piece. “That gave us an idea about the shape, size and appearance of the finial and we worked with the coppersmith,” informs Mr. Banerjee.
The old and the new came together as the conical piece that graced the top a few centuries ago blended in with the pieces coppersmith Muhammad Saleem moulded in his workshop at Chauk near Charminar.
As the shimmering copper objects were relayed to the top one after the other by workers, Mr. Saleem slotted them into place with a wooden mallet.
In the last rays of the setting sun, as the other workers disappeared, Mr. Saleem went around looking at his work and wondering: “Is it straight?”
