HYDERABAD: The city has hit a jackpot. For, treasure chests lying hidden for decades inside a nondescript building bang in the middle of the busy Monda Market was recently discovered. The treasure isn’t gold or material valuables but historical records of great importance. At least 12 cardboard boxes full of correspondences, letters and old photographs of freedom fighter and poet Sarojini Naidu have been unearthed from 70 almirahs inside building.
Books on Mahatma Gandhi, photographs of Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and correspondences of daughter Padmaja Naidu are among the documents unearthed from the property that belongs to the Mahankali Temple Trust. Housed in 5 by 10 feet rooms that had no power supply, these almirahs remained unopened for decades.
Now, they have been shifted to the Dr MCR HRD Institute of Telangana. State Archives and Research Institute (SARI) officials will soon digitise the material as part of conservation efforts. According to SARI officials, New Delhi-based historian Sheela Reddy hinted about the records way back in 2017.
Based on her information, then Director General of National Archives of India Raghavendra Singh flew in from Delhi and embarked on a search along with the help of State special chief secretary Ranjeev R Acharya. “After a day-long search, around 7 pm we managed to enter the room. But the place was so small we couldn’t open the almirahs.
After shifting out the almirahs and going through the documents, we realised they are priceless records.” Singh then brought it to the notice of the State Government and voiced his interest of taking it in for the National Archives of India in New Delhi. However, State Government intervened and took custody of the documents.
Now, this raises a question. Why didn’t state government act upon it earlier? A Murali, the Director General of SARI, said ‘‘ We didn’t know about the documents before. I don’t know how the documents reached Monda Market and came upon the custody of Mahankali temple Trust.’’ However, Zareena Parveen, the Director of Telangana State Archives told Express, “We haven’t yet opened the almirahs. After a few days, we will open it and then take up the digitisation process.”