Where have Vizag’s clock towers gone?

A view of the clock tower built by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in European style, as part of junctions development programme at Jagadamba Junction in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday on July, 09 2024. It has become a favorite spot for photographers and You Tubers due to it’s colourfull illumination.
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR

Many heritage buildings in Visakhapatnam, particularly those in the Old Town, had clock towers to indicate the time of the day. Those born in the 1960s and 1970s would remember looking at the clock towers at the King George Hospital (KGH) and the Kurupam Market building while passing by them in their childhood. There is a clock tower at the Maharajah Vikrama Deo College of Science and Technology at Andhra University.

This clock was visible only to those inside the campus, as other buildings and trees on the university campus got in the way for people to see from the outside.

The foundation stone for the construction of the University College of Science and Technology at Andhra University campus, in Visakhapatnam was laid by the then Governor of Madras and Chancellor of Andhra University, Lt. Col. The Rt. Honourable Sir George Frederick Stanley, on December 1, 1931. Construction was completed in two years, and the buildings were inaugurated by the same governor on December 8, 1933.

The inauguration plaque, however, bears the college’s name: Jeypore Vikrama Deo College of Science and Technology. After the death of the then-pro-chancellor of the University, Maharajah Sri Ramachandra Deo, who had no direct successor, on February 20, 1931, Vikrama Deo Verma took over the Jeypore Zamindary in June 1931.

Subsequently, the then Vice-Chancellor Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, along with Alladi Krishna Swamy, the then Advocate General of Madras, mediated through O. Pulla Reddy, ICS, and persuaded Vikrama Deo Verma to donate liberally to the university and the latter readily consented.

“Vikrama Deo Verma executed a bond agreeing to pay towards the recurring expenditure of the University College of Science and Technology, an annual contribution of ₹50,000 for the academic year 1933-34, ₹75,000 for 1934-35 and ₹1,00,000 from the next academic years till such time, when he or his heirs pay up a total sum of ₹15,00,000. The university had decided to rename the college as Jeypore Vikrama Deo (JVD) College of Science and Technology in recognition of his generous endowment to the university,” says V. Edward Paul, a history chronicler and INTACH member.

“The clock tower on the imposing college building seems to have been added after the opening of the building. In 1936, Dr. C.R. Reddy, the Vice-Chancellor, had described the clock tower as the crown of the university buildings of Andhra University. He also called it a ‘swadeshi crown’, among all other imported clocks. The clock was manufactured under the guidance and supervision of Dr. H. Parameswaran, Department of Physics, Presidency College of Madras, at his laboratory,” he says.

“The clock tower at JVD College of Science and Technology in Andhra University worked till 2014. It was damaged and stopped working after the Hudhud cyclone struck Visakhapatnam on October 12, 2014. Getting the spare parts and mechanics to repair such an antique clock is difficult. However, the heritage value of the clock cannot be defined in monetary terms,” says Mr. Edward Paul.

While the KGH Clock Tower continues to display the time, the Kurupam Market building was razed to the ground some years ago. Clock towers no longer seem to draw the public’s attention as far as knowing the time is concerned, but they do look in awe at the magnificent clock towers, which add to the splendour of the buildings.

Coming to the present, the district administration constructed a new clock tower at the busy Jagadamba Junction. Though the construction is new, the architects have given it a vintage look, and it has become a new attraction for tourists and visitors to the city. The tower, with its colourful lighting, can be seen in all its grandeur after dark.