Vantage point all set to be history......(The Hindu, 09-01-2018)

 

Vantage point all set to be history

(The Hindu, 09 January 2018 - by Serish Nanisetti)

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/vantage-point-all-set-to-be-history/article22406832.ece/amp/

The last of the rocks of Tipu’s Lookout at Lakdikapul is being blasted, chiselled and ground to dust. “We are levelling the area first. The owner of the plot is planning an apartment complex here,” said a supervisor at the site pointing to the small rock structure on top. As workers use pneumatic drills and earth movers, one of the most iconic rock formations in the heart of the city is virtually unrecognisable. “The small rock and cement structure on the top will not be touched,” says the supervisor reassuringly.

“We are constantly hearing the sound of drilling and the area has become dusty due to this. Many customers waiting for refuelling would ask us about the structure on top. Now, people are curious to know what is coming up there,” said Akram Khan, who works at a fuel station near the Tipu’s Lookout.

In the early part of the 19th century a visitor to the city wrote: “I strolled out to a hill, a confused pile of bare rocks, quite beyond the suburban residences. This is Tipu’s Lookout. It rises fifty feet above the plain. A flight of steps is cut into one side of the chief granite mass...From the summit of Tipu’s Lookout one enjoys a view of the country for miles around. The more prominent object is the gloomy old Golconda Fort in the west..” John Fletcher Hurst, who travelled quite a bit in India, was struck by the curious rock formation when he visited Hyderabad.

The rock formation at the small structure on top was named Tipu’s Lookout as it was constructed by Tipu Khan Bahadur, a confidant and equestrian trainer for the sixth Nizam Mir Mahbub Ali Pasha. *Wajahat Ahmed Khan speaks about his great grandfather Tipu Khan Bahadur as having built it as a lookout for people coming into the city. The location is no surprise as it overlooked a vast open space before the walled city’s entrance. Over time, the location lost its importance and the city expanded enveloping everything. Now, a religious organisation has a building in front of it. The Lakdikapul railway station is beside it.

For a few years, trekkers used the rock for climbing and exploring the city. But now, the rock formation is being erased, one hammer blow at a time.

 

Courtesy: 

(Wajahat Ahmed Khan is the great-grandson of Nawab Tipu Khan Bahadur. He has been actively vocal about the neglect of Tipu Khan Bridge, Tipu Khan Sarai, Tipu's Dwar and Tipu's LookOut. Nawab Tipu Khan Bahadur was a legendary Horseman and teacher of Horsemanship to the Nizam VI and Nizam VII. The tradition of Equestrianism continues in Wajahat Ahmed Khan, is involved in Equestrian sports. Wajahat Ahmed Khan is a trustee/ caretaker of Waqf-properties endowed by Late Nawab Tipu Khan Bahadur sahab— including Mosques and other religious properties .

Wajahat Ahmed Khan has publicly appealed for preservation of the heritage institutions built by his ancestor (Sarai, bridge, mosques), emphasising their historical and social value to Hyderabad.)