Bible House in Secunderabad gets a new look

Once in a dilapidated condition, the British-era structure is now a swanky building

Hyderabad: The Bible House, an iconic landmark in Secunderabad, has got a new swanky building with state-of-the-art facilities. The British era structure which was in dilapidated condition has made way for a new building that has come up with G 4 floors.

The Bible House was first constructed and opened in the city on December 7, 1939. The Secunderabad branch had commenced in 1936 as a branch of the Madras Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and later was converted into Secunderabad Auxiliary that translated Bible into Urdu and Persian languages.

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It was later converted as the Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary in 1951 and with the formation of Telangana State, the Telangana State Auxiliary came into being on February 2, 2016.

The Bible House is all about translations, publishing and distribution of scriptures. “One of the prime works is translation of the Bible into different languages,” Telangana Auxiliary Secretary Rev. John Basy Paul says.

Works for the new building project had commenced in April 2018 and the new building was dedicated on December 7 this year, the same day it was first dedicated in 1939.

“This is not a structure but it’s a soul. There is something here. So, you can interpret it in your own ways. I am emotionally touched with this place,” says Rev. John Basy Paul.

The new building has a hall with capacity for 120 pax and one of its kind boardrooms with an acoustic design besides open spaces for holding programmes. It also has a showroom with Bibles in different languages, which will be on sale from December 14 to 20.

As a means for sustaining the organisation, the Telangana Auxiliary has drawn plans to rent out the first, second and third floors of the new building including the hall and boardroom for people for holding meetings.

The Telangana Auxiliary has taken up a project of translation of Telugu Bible to Roman English, the works for which will conclude by March, 2023. “We want to give the Bible in the readable and understandable language to the people. I am looking at this transliteration project as our effort to preserve not just the faith but also the language,” Rev. John Basy Paul says.

After bringing in free audio and Braille Bibles for the visually challenged, work is also on to have Bible in sign languages for people with hearing and speech impairment.