The Treasure that Was Not

From time to time, rumours surface about hidden treasures around a hillock in Hyderabad. Last week, it all started again.

From time to time, rumours surface about hidden treasures around the hillock where the Birla temple stands in Hyderabad. Last week, it all started again when labourers digging along the Naubat Pahad foothills claimed to have seen steps leading to an underground tunnel. When they excavated it, they found an iron gate blocking them and deduced that there was treasure hidden inside. This claim was seconded by some schoolchildren and their parents.

The state archaeology department decided to hire a team of workers to get to the bottom of it. The treasure hunt, which hogged media space and prime television time, began in a school yard opposite the state secretariat. After two days, officials called the search off as there were no hidden steps, iron gates or almirahs overflowing with treasure as onlookers had claimed.

A sceptical Anuradha Reddy, Intach Hyderabad’s convener, says, “There are so many holes in the story.”

Widespread disbelief didn’t prevent the state archaeology director P Channa Reddy from putting his foot in his mouth and declaring that he would find the treasure by 21 February. City historians chimed in that there was indeed a small cave in the hillside. Dr Mohammad Saifullah, a Hyderabad historian, said this cave might be a bunker built by the rich to stash away wealth during World War II.

Decades ago, two such bunkers were unearthed, one near the Home Science College and another in the Mint compound where the head office of the State Bank of Hyderabad is currently located. But no treasure was found in either of them.

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Anil Budur Lulla