5 famous sites that reflect the rich heritage of Vizag

The heritage of Vizag is a treasure chest of wonderful stories. These are stories from the past that can come alive taking a stroll at any of the many proud heritage sites in the city. On this World Heritage Day, we bring you 5 such popular heritage buildings in Vizag that you need to know about.

#1 Turner’s Choultry

Year: 1898

Location: Main Road, near Visakha Central

In order to provide affordable stay for the people, who visit KGH for medical purposes, many philanthropists came forward to build a choultry – a lodging facility – in the later part of the 19th century. Chief among them was Maharaja Gode Narayana Gajapathi Row of “Chemudu” region, who donated around thirteen thousand square yards in the area known, then, as ‘Enugula Thota’ – vernacular for “Elephant Lines” of early military days. It was named Turner’s Choultry – ‘Turner Chatram/Satram’ in Telugu – after the then famous former Vizag Collector, Mr. Henry Gribble Turner.

The building – raised to a height of around a meter-and-a-half from the earth – is in the shape of a rectangle with a big central courtyard, which is surrounded on either side with rooms. The dual-pitched roof rests on the Burma-Teak posts.  Its antiquity and architectural splendour are vividly visible in its stone columns, the facade on the entrance door, the floral pattern cut in the stone above the crown of the entrance arch, pointed and arched windows in the front lobby; etc.

#2 AVN College

Year: 1892

Location: Isaka Dibba, One Town

In accordance with the Will written by Sri Ankitam Venkata Narasinga Row, a famous Zamindar and the then Deputy Collector, the three executors – his son. AV Jaggarow, PT Srinivasa Iyengar, famous educationist and Willock, Irish gentleman and the then Collector of Vizag got approval from Government to take over the ailing Hindu College (formerly the Anglo-Vernacular school, founded in 1860) near Hindu Reading Room. It has been then renamed and shifted into the current sprawling building on a small hillock in One-town. Its alumni include geniuses, revolutionaries, artists, statesmen and men of great merit, including a Nobel laureate – Sir CV Raman, Sri Sri, Rachakonda Viswanatha Sastry, Alluri Ramaraju, SV Rangarao, Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu, Adibhatla Narayanadasu, Sir CR Rao, Tenneti Viswanatham to name a few.

The building is a two-storey fort-like structure of open courtyards, continuous verandas with a buttressed porch of pointed arch openings, majestic staircases, and high-ceiling rooms built using dressed stone. Some buildings of contemporary variety have subsequently been added to accommodate the growing number of students in the complex.

#3 Collectorate

Year: 1914

Location: Maharanipeta

Another testament to the proud heritage of Vizag is the Collectorate. Messrs. Gyanan and Dunckerly Company – the Engineering and Construction company from Europe – built this sprawling Gothic-style castle for housing the office of the District Collector of Vizag. Its construction lasted almost five decades starting in 1865. It has been an office to many a stalwart, including the very popular Mr. Abid Hussain – Padma Bhushan and ex Indian-Ambassador to the USA – during the 60s. Many important decisions were taken in this building: chief being the policy for land-acquisition for Vizag Steel plant and rehabilitation of the displaced persons. The only blot that this building, of course, for no fault of its, carries for eternity is that it is in this very building, the then notorious British Collector Rutherford during 1920s hatched the plan to capture and kill Alluri Seetharamaraju – the reputed revolutionary from this part of the land.

This Gothic style castle with plan of “E-shape” consists of huge court-yards, majestic corridors on either side of this building, whose view of elevation has absolute symmetry in both first and ground floors, almost all varieties of vintage stair-cases – bifurcated, dog-leg and circular, semi-circular arches, huge windows, big and grand rooms form part of this structure. The grandest parts are the imposing square-pavilions – consisting of three square turrets at its all outer three corners – existing at each of the corners of the building and the regal portico at the centre of the main block. The portico is three-storied one with open arches on the ground floor and rooms in the first and second floors.

#4 Hawa Mahal

Year: 1921

Location: Beach Road

Maharajas Ramachandra Deo first and Vikram Deo – Jeypore zamindars/kings – built this edifice as a sort of transit halt during British Raj.  Its Construction lasted four years from 1917. It is named “Hawa mahal” for the bountiful winds from Bay of Bengal that it receives round the clock, whole year. Many dignitaries of British Raj and Independent India camped in this stunning building: prominent being Babu Rajendra Prasad, the first President of Indian republic and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of Independent India, when he visited Vizag in 1961 to inaugurate the first ship built by Hindustan Ship Yard, “Jala Usha”. Even Allied army top brass too stayed here to outsmart the Japanese war designs during Second World War.

It is an extravagant two-storeyed structure of rectangular stone masonry building with a central courtyard. Its signature style is prominently visible in the regal projected semi-hexagonal corner frontages and a single-storey arched central porch in the front.  The tall rooms, wooden railings, stone carvings, Italian marble flooring, embossed tiles, carved bargeboards, etc are the other glorious architectural features.

#5 Town Hall

Year: 1904

Location: Opposite Fishing Harbour, One town

Another popular heritage structure in Vizag. Named as “Victoria Diamond Jubilee Town hall”, it was donated by the then Maharaja of Bobbili during British Raj to the city of Vizag to commemorate the British Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee celebrations held in later part of the 19^th

century. The process of building this edifice started in 1901. Mr. RH Campbell, the then collector of Vizagapatam (the name of Visakhapatnam) opened it for public usage. When it was opened, the first floor was given to Vizagapatam Municipality as its conference hall, while the ground floor was given to Vizagapatam club, one of the oldest in this region.

This grand construction was built in the style of Victorian architecture in a gently-raised area of land. It is a two-storied building with a grand entrance portico and led into by large staircases. The ceiling of the first floor is a huge tiled-roof rising from either side (front and rear) to meet along a straight-line at the center of the top. The balconies exist on three sides, barring the front side, with tiled roofs lowering and overhanging into the outside. Its charm is mostly due to the circular rooms on either side in the rear, roofed in narrow conical style.