HYDERABAD: THE STORY OF BHAGYANAGAR

So what is the truth behind ‘Bhagyanagar’ vs ‘Hyderabad’? There are two different threads to this story.

First, according to a popular and oft-repeated legend in Hyderabad, the old name ‘Bhagyanagar’ or ‘Bhagnagar’ was derived from Bhagmati, a beautiful courtesan who went on to marry Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah (1565-1612 CE) the fifth Sultan of the Golconda Sultanate.

But the story of ‘Bhagyanagar’ gained new life and a new angle. Right next to the historic Charminar, a new temple dedicated to Goddess Bhagyalakshmi emerged. Old photographs of the Charminar as well as the Archeological Survey of India report, show that no such temple existed prior to the 1960s. In response to a RTI query in 2013, ASI furnished three photographs from its own archives, taken in 1959, 1980 and 2003 showing the south eastern side of Charminar, which corroborates that temple was a later addition. but the temple kept expanding in size, before a court ordered a status quo in 2013.

Besides being an eyesore, the temple has since become a source of communal conflict in the Old City of Hyderabad. It has also been added to the story of Hyderabad’s name, with several BJP leaders claiming that the temple predates the construction of the Charminar and that the town was named ‘Bhagyanagar’ after Goddess Bhagyalakshmi.

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