An earthmover at work inside the deep stepwell, in Gudimalkapur area, that is being restored by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, in Hyderabad, on August 30, 2023.
| Photo Credit: G. Ramakrishna
A stepwell that lay buried for decades is being cleaned up and restored near the Gudimalkapur area by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. It was on World Heritage Day when the Special Chief Secretary of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority had visited the site and promised to restore the Dharamshala attached to the Jham Singh Temple. However, his attention was drawn to the Nizam-era stepwell as well as the Qutb Shahi-era mile marker in the area. Then the hunt began for the well.
“Many people who make a living in the flower market remembered the well and guided us. We dug a test pit and after overlaying Munn Map with Google map we started the work,” says Nitya Khendry of National Institute of Urban Management who has been involved with the project from the beginning.
The 1914 Munn Map of Hyderabad Municipal Survey showing the stepwell which was covered up later.
The Munn map labels the well as Kumandan (a corruption of commandant) Baoli. Jham Singh on the Sardar Bagh Road. Jham Singh was the commandant in the Nizam’s Army and was tasked with purchase of horses for the Army. He first built the temple in 1810. This was followed by building a masjid and the other structures that dot the area, after the intervention of Nizam. The temple’s 55 acres were also used as a plague camp as there were frequent epidemics at that time.
“We have removed hundreds of trucks of building debris. Most of it is huge rocks, construction material, building debris and trash,” informs Janardhan who is operating the earthmover that delicately removed the waste without damaging the steps of the well. There was some hub-hub when dozens of shops in the area were removed to clear the way for the cleaning up of the well. But on Wednesday, the shopkeepers said if the well belonged to the temple it should be cleaned up and restored.
Jham Singh’s message on stone that was on the well now lies inside the portico of the temple. “Have a bath in this water. Sit down and drink the water of this well which is sweet as sugar,” is the message. With the restoration of the well, citizens can perhaps test the truthfulness of the message.