Visakhapatnam: One cannot take their eyes away from a masonry building while driving past RK Beach towards fishing harbour, namely ‘Hawa Mahal’, which stands out from the flock of the high-rise apartments. Constructed between 1917 and 1923 on a hillock on the Beach Road, the ‘Hawa Mahal’ in Visakhapatnam was initially intended to be the summer residence of Jeypore Kings of Odisha.
As one-third of Visakhapatnam district fell into Jeypore province under Madras Presidency in 1920s, the Jeypore kings also doubled it as a transit house to catch a train from Visakhapatnam to Madras (now Chennai). The two-storied rectangular structure is still in great shape and hosting several art exhibitions and yoga classes.
Consisting of a series of rooms with open inner verandahs and colonnaded front verandahs in both the floors, the bungalow was stocked with every possible amenity needed and enhanced with bathtubs, Italian marbles, teakwood furniture and wooden railings, many of which were brought from Birmingham, UK. Mayank Kumari Deo of the royal family of Jeypore said, “This was one of the buildings to have the power supply in the 1950s itself through underground cables.”
“After the formation of Andhra Pradesh, a nurses’ training school and first women’s college in Visakhapatnam were run from this premises during the 60s and 70s. Because of the copious amounts of wind flow, the bungalow was named as ‘Hawa Mahal,” she added
Eminent personalities such as the first President of Independent India Dr. Babu Rajendra Prasad, former President Sarvepalli Radha-krishnan and Nobel laureate Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore stayed in this bungalow.
Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru stayed at Hawa Mahal when he visited Vizag to inaugurate 'Jalausha', the first ship manufactured by the Hindustan Shipyard. The historic heritage building spans over 3.5 acres, including the open space. In 2013, Bollywood veteran Waheeda Rehman visited the building and cherished her old memories associated with the city when her father worked as a judge here pre-Independence.
Mayank Kumari Deo said, “The renovation works are going on a continuous basis and we are very much committed to keeing the heritage significance of the building alive.” “We are providing the building at free cost to the budding artist to conduct exhibitions.”
