Changing colours, a grave matter

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">HYDERABAD: Few people know about the tombstone of a relative of the second Nizam which changes colour with the season. The green carved tombstone named ''Zahar Mohara'' adorns the grave of one of the sons-in-law of Nizam Ali Khan who was buried in 1786 in the Paigah Plaza graveyard near Dargah Barhuna in Phisalbanda, also called New Santoshnagar.The greenish stone with ''<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">makarana</span>'' carving is said to have been imported from Yemen by the second Nizam.<br /><br />The greenish marble gets a whitish tinge in summer and darkens during the rains. It turns light green in winter, said Rukumathullah, caretaker of the graveyard.<br /><br />The tomb is that of the Nizam Ali Khan''s security chief, Faqruddin Khan, who later married the Nizam''s daughter Basheerunnisa, thereby cementing the ties between the Asaf Jah dynasty and the Paigahs (the Nizam''s security staff).<br /><br />More than 250 bodies are buried in this two acre graveyard. The graveyard has been neglected by the Archaeological Survey of India, which took over its maintenance in 1990.<br /><br />There is no security guard to protect the structures, some of which have been damaged.<br /><br />The gates are not locked even though the graveyard has marble carvings and other pieces of art worth crores of rupees in the international market.</div> </div>