Maharaj Kumar of Sitamau, a Princely state of Madhya Pradesh, was an officer in the territorial army and was one of the privileged officers to cycle down from Japan House to Hawa Mahal. Hawa Mahal became the Allied Army head quarters for administration purpose during World War II. It was in 1932 that Maharaja Vikram Deo shifted from his humble residence, Satya Sadan in One Town, to the grandiose Hawa Mahal on Beach Road. The main wooden gate took one and a half year to construct. One canon presently adorns the District Court premises and the other is placed at the Police Grounds of the city.
Two large canons were stationed near the main gate and Grecian statues of sentries guarded the huge wooden gate. There were two more guard rooms and more servants’ quarters near the main gate of the original plan, but got demolished for Beach Road widening. The villa was well guarded by sentries positioned in the octagonal shaped guard rooms on the front side of the building. The central courtyard provides light and breeze to the rooms all around it. Stair cases made of Burma teak on either side of the inside veranda lead to the first floor. The walls inside the rooms are decorated with Italian tiles and flooring boasts of Italian marble and Indian granite.
Burma teak doors and windows are adorned with stained Italian glass. The load bearing walls have intermittent semi-circular arches at doorways and windows. The pillars in the verandas are formed of large square columns of stones with interlocking system in the centre. The two storied building has sixteen rooms with a huge hall on the first floor with Burma Teak flooring. the main building and the other part with Mangalore tiles consisting of kitchen rooms, servants quarters, garages and a small manager’s residence. The balustrades of the stone railing are cut to precision and fixed without the support of iron or brass rods. It is thought provoking as to how it was accomplished devoid of modern tools and technology.
Unlike the other contemporary buildings with rough stone masonry, special care was taken to have straight cut khondalite stones to build the façade. It is a combination of the then in vogue British and Madras style of architecture. The foundation stone was laid in 1917 and took almost six years to complete the entire building. Muppidi Venkat Rao, the young and dynamic contractor who had ventured into construction under the supervision of British Engineers was assigned the herculean task of building the structure. The uneven hillock was levelled and the front land was filled up to build the villa a few meters above sea level. The land was purchased from the Raja of Saluru. The thought of a permanent residence in Visakhapatnam was contemplated by Maharaja Vikram Deo IV of Jeypore. Jeypore, which was an independent Zamindari, fell under Madras Presidency and travelling through the deep jungles of Odisha and Andhra all the way to Madras on official visits was quite cumbersome. Visakhapatnam, which was the only city in north coastal Andhra Pradesh, was the obvious choice for the Rajahs and Zamindars of pre-independent India to have transit homes in order to conduct official duties, visit their respective doctors and lawyers and also socialise with each other. Stories and anecdotes unfurled contiguous to the affinity shared with family and friends. The sound of the sea echoed in the verandas and halls of the beautiful edifice creating a soothing backdrop to the class lectures. The students were fortunate to be studying in one of the most beautiful locations in Visakhapatnam, overlooking the lapping waters of the Bay of Bengal. As portrayed in the film, it housed the first Government Women’s College. Little did I know that I would soon get married into the family that owned it. In 1981 I saw the majestic Hawa Mahal in the Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri starrer movie, Ek Duje Ke Liye.