Visakha Museum

A visit to the Visakhapatnam museum last month proved to be a disappointing affair. The objects on display were a motley collection, mostly donated by eminent and not-so-eminent citizens; most were of doubtful historical value. For instance what’s the historical value of currency notes from Latvia donated by a Latvian citizen who visited the museum a couple of years ago? Or the collection of modern coins from a dozen countries around the world? Or the modern paintings by just a couple of painters? It looked as if the museum was just kind enough to accept whatever people offered, without trying too hard to acquire anything by itself.


However, there were a few objects that made my visit worth the trouble -- a telescope from the old observatory, some old photographs of the city’s coastline, and larger-than-life portraits of the Vizianagaram and Bobbili rajahs (placed facing each other!) But the most interesting exhibits stood outside, in the cool gardens and lawns around the pretty Dutch building (which houses the museum). Among them I found this rock edict commemorating a change in the city’s name.

The entry fee was around Rs. 10 for an adult and Rs. 5 for a child. Unfortunately for me, the Maritime Museum, housed in the first building on the left, was closed for renovation when I visited. So all I could look at was the things in the old building.

An article on the Vizag observatory

For those interested in knowing more about the observatory in Vizag, here's the link to an article written by N. Kameswara Rao, A. Vagiswari and Christina Birdie in Current Science, Vol. 100, No. 10., published in May this year.

It's titled, "Early Pioneers of Telescopic Astronomy in India: G.V. Jaggarow and his Observatory" and is a detailed account of the founder of the observatory and those who ran it after him, the setting up of the observatory, the equipment acquired, the work carried out there, and its fading away. All this information is skillfully placed in the context of contemporary astronomical research in India and abroad.

The Jugga Rao Observatory

A crowd gathers to watch the transit of Venus at the Jugga Row Observatory in 1882

The Observatory at Visakhapatnam stood on the same grounds as the Dolphin Hotel (needs verification) does today. It was established by Venkata Jagga Rao, on whose immediate ancestors Francis W. heaps praise in the Vizagapatam Gazetteer.

About Jagga Rao’s paternal uncle, Surya Prakasa Rao, Francis quotes one Dr. Benza as saying, “He speaks and writes the English language uncommonly well, and his pronunciation evinces hardly any foreign accent. He disregards the show and glitter, the suite of attendants, the umbrella-carriers, and other indispensable appendages of his countrymen of rank corresponding to his own; and wears none of their ornaments. He came to visit the governor on a superb Arabian horse, and was introduced without a single attendant. We accompanied him on his return to Anakapalle, and he conducted us to his garden, which was laid out in a most beautiful style, rich with indigenous and exotic plants and trees.’ Francis W. goes on to say this uncle of Jagga Rao also helped capture a notorious rebel, Prakasa Rao, in 1834. Sounds like an accomplished Anglophile, whom the English liked in return.

Jagga Rao was the elder son of Surya Prakasa Rao’s only brother, Surya Narayana Rao. He studied at Madras under the then government astronomer, T.G. Taylor, from whom he seems to have acquired a love for astronomy. On returning home to Vizagapatam, in 1841, he built the observatory. He died in 1856, leaving behind a daughter. She married Ankitam V. Narasinga Rao, who carried on his father-in-law's work, even resigning his post of deputy collector, in order to find time to manage his newly-acquired estate.

Observatory site

Finally! I've managed to pinpoint the exact spot of Nursing Row's observatory. I'd already known it was somewhere in Dabagardens, but I did not know the exact location or whether any remains of it survive.

But today, as I looked up the transit of Venus in a search quite unrelated to my Vizag story (in fact I am fascinated right now by a book by Dava Sobel, called "Longitude"), I came across a 1995 book by Rajesh Kocchar and Jayant Narlikar, which mentions Nursing Row and his observatory. It says quite clearly, "The site in now occupied by Dolphin Hotel." Voila! Here's my revelation for the day. Hope you enjoyed.

The Observatory Family

Remember the astronomer of a previous post - Nursinga Rao? Apparently his family-or rather, his wife's family-was quite a prominent one in Vizag.
Will gather my notes together tomorrow or some time later to give the story. Just keep biting your nails on this fact: Nursinga Rao's descendents are still around in the city...and they play quite a prominent part in its affairs.

The Observatory

Finally something worth putting down! The Vizagapatam Observatory.

In my explorations into Google, I dredged up some information on the positions of planets, the transit of Venus etc. with which I did not know what to do. However the date - 1850s - and one name that kept popping up throughout - one Nursinga Row - caught my attention.

I continued looking up this person. At first, I thought he was a minion at the observatory. Then it appeared he was quite an important astronomer: his work was published in international journals.

Finally I found some biographical information, both about the observatory and the man. The observatory, named G.Y. Juggarow Observatory was founded by a man of the same name. He was a wealthy zamindar from the town and had a daughter, Sri Ankitam Atchayamma, whose husband was our much sought after Nursinga Row.

He gave up his post as the deputy Collector (I did not know the British encouraged locals to hold such posts) and took charge of his in-laws' estate after their death. He also devoted himself to astronomy and apparently made several valuable contributions. (I would definitely like to understand what they were.)

Quaint fact: Nursinga Row started the practice of firing an evening gun to give Vizagites a common reference by which to set their watches (if they had any at the time). He even bore the costs for this practice.