Where have Vizag’s clock towers gone? Premium

Visakhapatnam's heritage clock towers, including one at Andhra University, hold historical significance and add charm to the city.

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.