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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Hyderabadis deserve better than what Salar Jung Museum’s 75th anniversary offers

The proposed museum’s conference is not featuring some of the best historians in country. Hyderabad, a city with rich history, is never as intellectually active as it should be.

Most people today are unaware of the original building that housed the Salar Jung Museum. It was Dewan Deodi—the official residence of the Salar Jung family—in Hyderabad’s Charminar-Pathar Gatti area.

While the original palace structure no longer exists, its historic century-old gates, with the main entry (facade), still stand tall. The new Museum was built very close by to the old structure just across the bank of the river Musi.

People who have seen the structure are truly lucky because the museum’s archival images only make me visualise the grandeur that has now been lost. If not anything else, old photos of the ‘Aina Khana’ (glass room that featured European glass collections and chandeliers, among other things) give us a glimpse of the astounding opulence of the original museum.

So, why am I bringing this up now? Because 2026 will mark the 75th platinum jubilee anniversary of the museum. The Salar Jung family’s collections were turned into a museum because of the rare art objects brought from all over the world over the centuries.

The family’s history goes back to the time of Hyderabad’s........

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