Once touted as the place that could provide visitors with a preview of the history of Golconda Fort and Golconda Sultanate before they stepped into the vast fort area, the Khazana Museum today wears an abandoned look.
Located a few hundred metres from Fateh Darwaza and closer to the fort complex, several centuries-old basalt and other stone sculptures of Hindu gods, goddesses and images of Buddha were housed in the museum which were gradually shifted out and some lie uncared for in the dilapidated building. According to officials, the artefacts were shifted as plans were put in place to renovate and conserve the heritage building.
The department of archeology and museums had sanctioned only Rs 40 lakh for the conservation project which led to the work being abandoned midway. With the funds exhausted, the museum today remains shut with a couple of workers stationed at the site. There is only one watchman to guard the building day and night.
According to sources, the previous directors were not in favour of keeping the Khazana Museum and treated it as a burden on the department which suffered perennially from liquidity crunch. To make it more irrelevant they began shifting sculptures that were of greater value to other museums in the state.
“The department never showed any vision in setting up and maintaining the museum right from the beginning. Today, it is filled with statues that have no relevance to the history of Golconda. The museum in the beginning resembled a dump yard. But even in that condition it used to have quite a few curious visitors and some who were serious on finding out more about the history of the place. Some of the statues were said to be priceless,” Abdul Hameed, a resident of Mohammedi Lines in Golconda said.
The sources said sometime back an NGO had given a proposal to the government to convert Khazana Museum into a preview stop for the Golconda Fort and house it with precious findings related to the fort, the kingdom and the settlement there. “There was no response from the government,” an official associated with the NGO said.
Meanwhile, Shamsher Khotha, a storehouse of old weapons, mostly swords, daggers and spears, located only a few yards from the Khazana Museum, also remains in a state of utter neglect. “Though there was a burglary and hundreds of weapons were stolen from Shamsher Kotha some time back, the department appears to have completely forgotten about the place,” Hameed said. Shamsher Kotha does not even have watchman to guard the place.
