Osmania General Hospital

Name :

Osmania General Hospital

Address  :

15-5-104
Near Afzal gunj Bus stop
Afzal gunj

Town  :

Hyderabad

State  :

Telangana

Country  :

INDIA

Post Code:

500012

Phone  :

040 24600121

Web URL  :

Available

Description

It is a building It is a hospital Unfortunately the twain meet

From a distance the Osmania General Hospital looks a majestic citadel with domes reaching out to the sky like inverted raindrops The pastel paint of the huge building complex makes it seem idyllic in the mellow evening sunshine

Get closer and it is a hospital A mammoth institution situated in the bristling old city it is forever teeming with people speaking many dialects some muttering some mumbling some sharing simmering silence with their fellow attendants The premises are typically sarkari with eagleeyed parking attendants smelling of zarda displaying amazing alacrity in tearing out colored pieces of paper and moving on to swoop down on another 2wheeler rider even as they are pocketing the coins handed by the first one The canteen the verandahs the lobbies the huge highceilinged halls there are people swarming every nook and corner

So much so that if you cross this threshold for nonmedical and touristy interests you are not likely to see much of the walls or the windows The bedded patients are lost somewhere in the large halls with the roof almost invisible somewhere up in the sky and the only thing that takes away your attention from the immovable structure is the flurry of the doctors and staff and those who hope they some teeny part of all that important bustle would ultimately serve to give them a little succor

But then Osmania Hospital is indeed the largest Government hospital in the state with stateofthe art equipment a battery of specialists and advanced care facilities for practically every ailment from Hernia to HIV There may be mixed feelings about the institution though there is unequivocal agreement that the building itself is quite magnificent

The hospital with a medical college attached stretches across an entire locality It begins as you step off Naya Pul and then goes on and on up to Purana Pul and beyond running along the eastern bank of Musi So yes you get rooms with views here All right its not much of a view but if the Musi were alive it would have been Not that you should ever have to find out

Across from the River Park this large almost forbidding 3storeyed hospital was built in 1925 under the reign of the 7th Nizam It was constructed during the City Improvement Board phase of the Nizams rule This phase has characteristic architectural styling designed by Vincent Esch whose work includes the lovely High Court building which faces the hospital This was the time that localities were redeveloped roads were constructed and the Musi riverfront was snazzed up by this forwardthinking Nizam

So in sum it is all a matter of viewpoint If you are a fit and fine human being who can swallow scenes of distress with detachment and singlemindedly pursue your architectural proclivities then Osmania Hospital is a mustsee But if the stomach churns and you feel faint at the sight of hospitals patients saline bottles and the allpervading smell of spirit restrict yourself to a view of the complex etched into the skyline from across the river Or from any point or angle where you can relax with a cup of tea and gaze on

History

Nawab Afzaludaula was the fifth king of Asafjahi dynasty and ruled the state of Hyderabad in the seventh decade of nineteenth century with Hyderabad as capital city Hyderabad Medical School already existed during his reign and there was a need for a big hospital for an expanding city The first Salarjung Thurba Ali Khan MukhtarUlMulk Bhadur who was the Prime Minister conceived the idea of building the hospital at the bank of Musi River in the year 18761866 It was popularly known as Afzalgunj hospital The hospital earned world wide reputation with Hyderabad Chlorofom commission during the tenure of Dr Edward Lawrie18851901 as Principal of Hyderabad medical school and Superintendant of the hospital This hospital was damaged in the year 1908 on account of devastating flood in the river Musi which is adjacent to the hospital

Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan VII King of Asafjahi dynasty decided to construct a new grand hospital at the same place The new magnificent hospital was built by the seventh Nizam during the years 1920 to 1925 Hence the name of the hospital is Osmania General Hospital