Telangana's grand Secretariat, a brainchild of KCR, thrown open

Turning a new leaf in its history, India's youngest state Telangana on Sunday opened a new building of its Secretariat, the nerve centre of state's administration equipped with state-of-the-art features and built with a unique design.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao inaugurated the complex by occupying a chair in his chambers on the sixth floor and signing a few files. A group of priests performed the rituals with chanting of Vedic hymns.

Ministers, leaders of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and senior officials presented bouquets to congratulate him on the occasion. Many ministers and other public representatives bowed down to touch the feet of Chief Minister KCR.

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Ministers, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, secretaries and other top officials occupied their chairs in their respective chambers simultaneously.

A brainchild of Chief Minister KCR, the Secretariat complex has come up near the banks of Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city at the same piece of land where old buildings of Telangana Secretariat and earlier undivided Andhra Pradesh stood.

The building, termed as a symbol of Telangana's progress, boasts off two massive domes. National emblem atop the huge domes has taken the building to its planned height of 265 feet, making it the tallest state Secretariat in the country.

The integrated complex housing the offices of the chief minister, ministers, chief secretary and all other secretaries and heads of departments, reflects the pride of Telangana and would stand as a role model for other states, says the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. It has been named after the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

Built at a cost of over Rs 600 crore, the Secretariat is a six-storey structure with seven lakh square feet of built-up space and equipped with all modern facilities.

The rituals associated with the inauguration of the building began Sunday morning. Sudarshana Yagam was performed by Vedic pandits. Minister for roads and buildings Vemula Prashant Reddy and his wife performed Dwaralaxmi puja.

After the Sudershana Yagam, Chandi homam and vastu homam were performed.

Chief Minister KCR arrived at the Secretariat at around 1.15 pm. After getting down from the car at the main gate and accompanied by a few ministers and top officials, he walked towards the special tent to perform puja before driving into the complex. At the entrance KCR took a salute from a police contingent before unveiling a plaque and cutting the ribbon to formally inaugurate the building.

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The structure has been built in the Indo-Saracenic style that blends the Indo-Islamic architectural features generally with domes. The multiple domes and arches of the building perfectly fit in this style representing the syncretic and liberal Deccani style, expressing Telangana's quintessence.

Designed by the Chennai-based Architects Ponni Concessao and Oscar Concessao, the complex has been built by Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Pvt Limited with all the Indian Green Building Council norms, meeting the stipulations of fire safety, disaster management and other mandatory regulations.

The construction work started in January 2021 amid Covid-19 and court cases, but was completed in a record time of 26 months. According to officials, usually it takes five years to complete the works of such a huge construction.

The building, a fusion of different cultures, has been built with a height of 265 feet on an area of 10,51,676 square feet in a sprawling 28 acres. It has 34 domes, including two huge domes, which add attraction to the complex.

The six-storey Secretariat, with 635 rooms, 30 conference halls and 24 lifts, has been built to accommodate 2,000 employees.

There are two floors with 4,500 square feet each under the dome on the sixth floor. These will be used for the President, Prime Minister and foreign guests who are on a state visit. Royal dining halls have been built in the Persian model.

According to officials, 3,500 cubic meters of Dholpur red stone, which was used for Parliament building, was also utilised for the new Secretariat. For this, a whole mine was used in Dholpur, Rajasthan. From there, the stone was transported to Hyderabad in 1,000 trucks. Red stone is used for the entire basement, while light brown stone is used from the main dome to the portico.

The government has also built Hindu, Muslim and Christian prayer halls in the Secretariat. They have been made more spacious and beautiful than before. The government has provided flexibility to get the construction done according to the wishes of the respective religious leaders.