The cursed story of first Medical School building of Visakhapatnam!

The history of Visakhapatnam holds many mysteries and untold stories, one such story is about the Visakhapatnam Medical School, which was established way before the Andhra Medical College.

In 1900, Maharajah G N Gajapathi Row wanted to build a public building in honour of Queen Victoria, then the Empress of India. Maharajah Gajapathi Row wanted to contemplate the building of the Town Hall, however, the opportunity slipped from his grasp and landed in the hands of Rajah Bobbili.

Since then, Gajapathi Row was eagerly waiting for another opportunity to impress the queen. At that time, the District Medical Officer of Visakhapatnam, Colonel Leepingwell mentioned to Maharajah, that the local Zamindar was looking for a suitable site to establish a Medical School.

Maharajah quickly grabbed the opportunity and offered to raise a building at his own cost and name it “Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medical School”. His proposal was accepted by the Madras Government and the establishment of a Medical School in Visakhapatnam kickstarted.

When things began to move smoothly, Queen Victoria passed away on 22 January 1901. During the reigning monarchy, it was mandatory to obtain the permission of the monarch to name any institution after them.

With the passing of the Queen, Rajah’s hopes of naming the institution quietly faded. Thereby, the Medical School in Visakhapatnam was never given the name originally intended for it. All the records of Vizagapatnam (old name) referred to it as Vizagapatam Medical School or Medical School.

The proposal for the site of constructing the building was accepted by the Madras government in the year 1902. However, the Medical School was inaugurated in the same year with 10 students in a rented building. It is said that the rent was paid by the Maharajah family.

Before the foundation stone of the building was laid, unfortunately, The Maharajah Gajapathi  Row passed away in 1903.

With his death, the responsibility of the school fell on his widow, Maharani Gode Chitti Janakayyamma. After she facilitated place, the foundation stone of the building was finally laid in 1905 by the Governor of Madras, Lord Ampthill.

The construction of the building was completed in the next 5 years, and by February 1910 the building was ready for occupancy. So, the Madras government officials instructed the Visakhapatnam collector to do the final checks of the building.

The District Medical & Sanitary Officer and the Executive Engineer jointly inspected the new building in October 1910. The DM&SO reported that there was no dissecting room, without which it may not be useful for Medical School.

The Executive Engineer reported the roof consisted of a new type of terracing in which hollow tiles were used, and it was leaking all over the building. He suggested some rectifications to the roof and drain pipes before it was put to use. The rectifications were done by November 1911. Finally, the Medical School was moved into the new building by April 1912.

But still, there were some discrepancies regarding the title of the property. Thus, Maharani gave the Power of Attorney to her Diwan and sent him to Madras in 1912 to execute the deed.

Unfortunately, the Diwan could not go to Madars on that day and registration of the building got postponed. Before the next date could be fixed, the Maharani Chitti Janakayyamma passed away on 26th July 1912.

Rani Seetha Bai, the daughter of Maharajah Gode Narayana Gajapathi Rao, took the responsibility to execute the document and the Gift Deed was registered at Madras by the end of October 1912.

Soon, an old proposal of converting the ground floor of the school building into a hostel surfaced. Maharani made preparations for converting the building into a combined school and hostel.

When the preparation was underway, a Civil Hospital building adjacent to the school started showing signs of decay. The monsoon in 1913 caused much damage to the old structure bringing down the roof of the surgical ward.

In December 1914 emergency preparations were made to convert the school building into a temporary hospital. The school was moved to the Collector office building (now Govt Queen Mary’s Girls High School

The medical school occupied its building only for two years from the end of 1912 to the end of 1914 and was ultimately closed in 1927.

With the initial rectifications and subsequent modifications, the building could not stand for long. The medical school building was ordered for demolition when the building was found unsafe.

In its place, the present Anatomy block of the Medical College was constructed.

What do you think about this story behind the first Medical School of Visakhapatnam? Do let us know whether you think it was cursed or not.

Disclaimer: The information and pictures in the article is compiled from an article given by Historian Edward Paul to Yo!Vizag.  

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