Osmania University: Epic in Granite

360° Panoramic Views 1

According to Dr M. Radhakrishna Sarma, a former professor at Osmania's Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, “Modelled after the Persian Pishtaq or the portal found in madarasas and mosques of medieval period, the huge portal is a triumphal arch that extends a splendid and pressing welcome into a sacred interior." To the right and left of the great arch are two double-storeyed colonnaded galleries, each a mirror replica of the other. The entablatures of the first floor are supported on octagonal pillars typical of columnar architecture found in Ellora and Ajanta caves. The second floor balconies are arcaded and flaunt trellised balustrades in a manner similar to the first floor balconies.

Once you leave the frontal arched portal, you step into a magnificent foyer, which unveils the real wealth of architectural diversity of the Arts College building. In front of you and beyond the shining, sprawling floor in pink terrazzo is again another two-pronged stairway presided over by a great window that at one time was the biggest stained glass window next in size only to the window at Medak church. The foyer has four internal balconies on its four sides, forming a kind of squarish halo above the ground floor. These galleries are supported by 24 ornamental pillars, representative of the best Hindu architectural styles, fluted in parts and crowned by amalaka capitals.

If you stand in the centre of the foyer and look up, a strikingly grandiose dome greets you. Islamic in conception and double-decked in structure, the dome’s first deck looks circular to view but has sixteen sides and the second deck, a downward extension of the first, has sixteen niched windows corresponding to each of the sides of the first deck. Three flights of banistered stairs, one to the left of the foyer, another to the right and a third overlooking the foyer lead to the first floor which is a replica of the ground floor plan with minor departures.

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