t is the only perfectly preserved 350-year-old palace that dates back to the Qutb Shahi era. And believe it or not, an elevator has been added to the monument! Goshamahal Baradari, the last remnant of the glory of Golconda, now has a hideous square vertical contraption strapped on to its left wing.
“It has been added a few months ago. Even the paintwork has not been done on it,” says the caretaker of the baradari, which has been functioning as a Freemasons’ Lodge from 1933. The baradari is at one end of the palace complex and is the only intact magnificent structure with delicately carved doors, intricately wrought jaali work and a soaring ceiling that helps it stay cool even at the height of Hyderabadi summer. When Aurangzeb attacked Golconda in 1687, his army camped out on the grounds of the palace and his son Shah Alam lived in the palace. “The baradari was an open structure at the head of a pool. The doorway and the tracery inside the arches were done after it was handed over to Freemasons,” informed a member of Freemasons’ Lodge, unwilling to be named. Folklore has it that the baradari has a secret underground passage to Golconda for use of Abul Hasan Tana Shah and his ladies. Most people passing by the area give it a miss, except for a second glance at the semi-octagonal bay in the middle, which is the rear of the building.
Invited for the dedication of the Goshamahal Lodge in the winter of 1933, by the secretive Freemasons, the Nizam was left surprised at adaptive reuse of the building: “The world knows that Freemasons are a Charitable Brotherhood, but it comes as a surprise to me at least to find that you have so much architectural talent, sense of beauty and appreciation of history. This Goshamahal Baradari is 250 years old; it will remain, I hope, for many more years as a standing symbol of the principles of your order and of your appreciation of the part Hyderabad has played in the history of India.” After the Mughal conquest, the area was a training ground for Goshamahal Troops, part of the Nizam’s Irregular Force. Now, much of the ground of the palace has residences of police officials and civilians. A part of the area is used by the Telangana Mounted Police as a training ground.
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A few years ago, the GHMC built toilets on the street side of the baradari, but after an uproar by civil society, they were pulled down. It remains to be seen how the new development plays out.
The Nizam, when he visited the Goshamahal Baradari in 1933, had expressed surprise at the adaptive reuse of the building