Qutb Shahi Heritage Park: Conserving a royal necropolis

‘India International Centre’ presents a new exhibition, titled ‘Qutb Shahi Heritage Park: Conserving a Royal Necropolis’.

At the foot of Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, stands the 106-acre Qutb Shahi Heritage Park, a unique necropolis where for 169 years, the Qutb Shahi Sultans built mausoleums, funerary mosques, grand step-wells and garden structures. This, without a doubt, is the most significant ensemble of Qutb Shahi architecture.

For over a decade, the ‘Aga Khan Trust for Culture’ in partnership with the Government of Telangana’s ‘Department of Archaeology’ has undertaken the conservation of over 100 monuments coupled with landscape restoration of the necropolis. The exhibition presents a decade-long journey of conservation with a focus on the conservation of Muhammad Qutb Shah’s mausoleum, supported by ‘InterGlobe Foundation/IndiGo Reach’.

As part of the exhibition, there will be two related programmes:

‘Cultural Practices of the Qutb Shahis’ (talk by historian, architecture conservator, columnist and Visiting Professor at the University of Hyderabad Sajjad Shahid on the poetry, music, writing and sufi practices of the Qutb Shahis), which will happen today at 6:30 pm in the Art Gallery.

‘Qutb Shahi Heritage Park: Conservation and Landscape Restoration’, which will take place on October 9 at 6:30 pm in the Art Gallery. There will be an illustrated lecture by Ratish Nanda who will address the objectives and conservation philosophy followed during the conservation and landscape restoration at the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park. Since 2013, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture’s interdisciplinary team has partnered with a host of agencies to conserve these historic monuments and restore their gardens. This discussion will highlight the conservation process and the strategies employed in conserving this significant cultural heritage.

The exhibition will be on view till October 11, 2024, from 11 am to 7 pm daily.