Hyderabad: 143-year-old Hussain Sagar art sparks curiosity on Twitter

Hyderabad: A simple, yet captivating painting of Hussain Sagar by famous European artist T Schmidtina, probably dating back to 1879, is doing the rounds on Twitter for a question posed by city-based architect and historian Asif Ali Khan. His question was, “Guess the probable location where the artist sat to paint?” This has made the […]

Hyderabad: A simple, yet captivating painting of Hussain Sagar by famous European artist T Schmidtina, probably dating back to 1879, is doing the rounds on Twitter for a question posed by city-based architect and historian Asif Ali Khan.

His question was, “Guess the probable location where the artist sat to paint?” This has made the picture quite thought-provoking and is raising curiosity, with many, including youngsters, starting to construe the exact location in relation to the elements depicted on the canvas of the bygone era.

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Many, especially senior citizens, are enjoying looking at the landscape and reminiscing about the good old days. Some replied to the best of their knowledge as Sanjeevaiah Park, Sailing Club, the banks of Hussain Sagar, west of Secunderabad Cantonment, Banjara Hills, and so on.

What started with curiosity ended with discovery when Khan shared the exact location of the artist. “This is the probable location from where the artist sat to paint (see the arrow which points straight at cleave of heart-shaped Hussain Sagar). The bund projection with a tree in the painting (around where the national flag is now) is also seen. The circle is the hillock seen in the painting,” Khan said, sharing a photo from Google Earth.

Khan identifies the Khairatabad Masjid, the Saifabad Palace at the foothills of Kala Pahad and the Musheerabad masjid too. Pankaj Sethi, a history researcher, was quick to answer. “The picture was taken between Boat Club and Rasoolpura circle. The promontory housing the boat jetty is prominent. The hillock is probably Naubat Pahad considering it is close to the water. Banjara/Red Hills would be farther. Also, Naubat’s right (W) side is steeper than Left (E),” he said.

Another heritage activist, Sanghamitra Malik, shared that she had seen Naubat Pahad and Kala Pahad just the way they were and the mighty Hussain Sagar in all its glory. “Birla Mandir has come up on Kala Pahad and Birla Science Museum on Naubat Pahad,” she said, adding that an old song ‘Yeh parbaton ke daayre…’ from the Hindi movie ‘Vaasana’ was shot on Hussain Sagar and Naubat Pahad.