Osmania University College for Women
Veeranari Chakali Ilamma Women's University, formerly Osmania University College for Women, is a state university in Hyderabad, India.
, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning for women in India. It is the first women's university in the Telangana state of India.
History
of what was then the Nampally Girls School located in the "Golden Threshold", also a former home of Sarojini Naidu. In 1932, the Intermediate Science Course was started and in 1935, the bachelor degree courses in Arts and Social Sciences were added and the college was affliated to Osmania University with the campus within the university. In 1941 B.Ed Degree and B.Sc. were introduced which has now been replaced by the BA and B.Sc. courses., in 1949, the campus shifted to its present location British Residency that was erstwhile residency of British colonel James Achilles Kirkpatrick.
In 2022, the college was upgraded to a state university, called Telangana Mahila Viswavidyalayam. It had plans to start offering engineering courses. In 2024 the college was once again renamed as Veeranari Chakali Ilamma Women's University after Telangana armed struggle leader Chakali Ilamma.
Campus
The campus is spread over 42 acres.The main building of this college, which was part of the British legacy in India, is a monument of great aesthetic, architectural and historical importance. Commissioned in 1803 for the British army officer, J. A. Kirkpatrick, his builder Lt. Samuel Russell of the Madras Engineers, has produced a structure capable of rivaling the Governor's house in Kolkata.
The architecture style is of Palladian style villa bearing a close resemblance to Governor house in Calcutta built for Governor Wellesley that in turn resembles the building style of St. Petersburg Palace in Russia.
The college building has been included in the list of heritage structures compiled by INTACH. World Monuments Fund has included the building in its 2025 World Monuments Watch.
The beautiful campus has also been a favourite spot for shooting of Telugu films. Some of the popular movies shot in the campus include Gopala Gopala, Bhola Shankar, Guntur Karam.
Academics
Women's College offers graduate and postgraduate courses for women. Post graduate courses were started from 1979. In 1988, the college was granted Autonomous status by the UGC. From 1993 additional post graduate specialized courses were introduced such as Masters in Computer Applications, Masters in Business Administration. Presently, the College offers variousThe college was upgraded to the status of university in April 2022 and holds NAAC A grade. Today it caters to a large number of first-generation learners; about 4000 students from most of the districts of the newly constituted state of Telangana.