Top class Brahmin colony cast in Medak

November 27, 2007
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Nov. 26: A group of eminent Brahmins is setting up a 1,200-acre colony for the community in Siddipet of Medak district to resurrect the old Agraharam ambience. They include senior IAS, IPS, IFS and IRTS officers and journalists from the community. The Brahmin colony has been named Dhanwantari Agraharam and will have modern amenities including engineering and medical college, a super-specialty hospital, super markets, temples and an exclusive hall for rituals.
This is the first ‘caste-based’ mega real estate venture in and around Hyderabad. In olden days kings and rulers used to donate lands to Brahmins to set up Agraharams. Similarly, the new venture is meant to bring Brahmins scattered all over the city to one colony to create “mutual understanding”. The ambitious project, being taken up by Dhanwantri Foundation International, will be ready in two years’ time. Plots have been allotted and construction will begin on the auspicious Pongal day in mid-January next year. The foundation has purchased 180 acres of land near Jadcherla in Mahbubnagar district and 1,200 acres near Siddipet with funds contributed by about 1,000 members.

Plots are being sold at Rs 150 a square yard as against the normal market value of Rs 1,500. Dr P. Kamalakara Sarma, managing trustee of the foundation, refused to divulge more about the project. “I am busy with my patients,” he said when contacted. However, his message on the foundation’s website says that the vote bank-based democracy of India had led the Brahmins to a pathetic situation, irrespective of their position. “The feeling of ego and so-called intellect has not allowed the community to function as a systematic organisation leaving individuals to suffer,” he further adds.
Despite the tall talk, poor Brahmins seem to have no place in this modern Agraharam. The 504 governing council members of the foundation will get land ranging between one and three acres and 400 donor members will get 1,000 square yards each. A senior IPS officer, who is on the board of trustees, said he had been briefed about the project though he did not buy a plot.