From rose water to rubbish: Katora Houz loses glory

Katora Houz, a 16th-century heritage tank at Golconda Fort, once filled with rose water and surrounded by gardens, now lies neglected and used as a garbage dumping site. Locals urge authorities to restore this historic architectural gem.

Hyderabad: According to the historians, the Katora Houz was once filled with rose water for the king Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, who visited the place and enjoyed the ambience. In Urdu, ‘Katora’ means ‘bowl’, and it was constructed using stone and mortar in 1560 AD.

Katora Houz had a network of underground pipes connecting it to the Talaab-e-Durg, now Durgam Cheruvu. There were many gardens around the place, according to historians, who add that a lot of emphasis was given to the construction of the tank to make it a beautiful piece of architecture, too.

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During the siege of Golconda Fort in 1687, when Abdul Hasan Qutb Shah was the king, the tank literally came to the rescue of the people who used the water for drinking purposes. The siege continued for eight long months before the forces of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb managed to get into the fort.

Mohd Qasim, a local resident, said that the water body is now reduced to a garbage disposal spot. “The authorities had cleaned up on a couple of occasions, but failed to take further steps to restore it. At least now something should be done to restore the historic tank,” he demanded.