Some hope left for Raymond’s tomb complex

It is being transformed into a park with a walking track

November 05, 2019 10:01 pm | Updated 10:01 pm IST - Hyderabad

The Raymond’s tomb complex at Hyderabad’s Moosrambagh area is being transformed into a park with a walking track as part of a Union Government project. The hillock with the tomb of French general Michel Joachim Marie Raymond, which overlooks the Asmangarh area, is being ringed by a dressed stone walkway.

“The funding under the Swadesh Darshan is for developing tourist amenities. The walkway is part of that. There will be a 9-metre by 6-metre toilet for visitors at the site,” says Dinakar Babu, Director of Telangana Department of Archaeology and Museums. The DAM has plans to raise the perimeter wall to stop the use of the heritage site as a dumping ground by people of the surrounding areas.

Michel Raymond was a French mercenary soldier who gained the confidence of Nizam Ali Khan for his military prowess and discipline. While Nizam Ali Khan began his reign in 1762, Raymond teamed up with him in 1768 to create a formidable fighting force that could challenge the might of the British East India Company. Michel Raymond died mysteriously aged just 43 in 1798 and a 23-foot high obelisk was built where the French general was buried. It was close to the area where the general trained his marksmen and drilled his soldiers.

Now, surrounded by dense habitations, the only pointer to the tomb complex is a sign: SBH Colony, Asman Garh. The four-acre complex presents a picture of a construction site and not a heritage one. Workers have used earthmovers and pneumatic drills to cut through the rocky surface. The walking track is being laid by bulldozing and drilling through the rock sending shock waves in the area. “There is continuous sound during day time. The quiet of the area has been shattered,” says Ashok Kumar, whose house abuts the heritage site. Mr. Kumar says he moved into the area in 1991 when it was an open space.

The graceful obelisk inscribed with an elegant JR has a few banyan trees growing on it. On the northern side, a small vertical wedge running halfway through it has appeared between the stones.

“We are not working on the obelisk or the other tomb. We have cleaned up the area, but we need more resources to take care of the conservation work. We cannot use non-traditional methods or materials for restoration,” says a DAM official.

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