Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Chowmahalla Palace

It was like rediscovering my city as I took my brother and his family around the various touristy sites. I had heard that the Chowmahalla Palace was open to public , but then this was a place that had gone unnoticed the many times I had gone past it on the way to a friend's place in the old city. Of course, one had no inkling of what lay beyond the tall walls of the palace.

Rather reluctantly and hoping not to be disappointed we made our way to the Palace. And what we saw was amazing.

The Chowmahalla Palace, built over 200 years ago was the seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty where the Nizams entertained their official guests and royal visitors. Chowmahalla as the name indicates comprises of four palaces and is supposedly a replica of the Shah of Iran's palace in Teheran. Of the 45 acres on which the Palace was originally built, only 12 acres remain.


The Shishe-Alat ,which was once used as guest rooms for officials accompanying visiting dignitaries . 'Shishe' meaning mirror image of the Bara Imam - a long corridor of rooms on the east side that housed the administrative wing .

The Khilwat, the grand Durbar Hall with a distinct Persian influence . The beautiful belgian chandeliers take your breath away. The hall has a pure marble platform on which the Takht-e-Nishan or the royal seat was laid

The ornate ceiling:

The clock above the main gate to Chowmahalla Palace is the Khilwat Clock. It has been kept ticking away mainly due to the efforts of a family of clock repairers that wind the mechanical clock every week .


The lovely windows from the exterior.


A view through the window

The Mehtab Mahal

I seem to have got carried away. And these are just few of the pictures that were taken. One could spend the whole day just admiring the architecture, the carved furniture, the lovely chandeliers, the vintage cars, and all that is synonymous with royalty.

The castles of Scotland can wait a while, let me first discover the beautiful palaces in my neighbourhood.

6 comments:

  1. Hi, thanks for visiting my blog.

    I loved this post and especially the final bit, "The castles of Scotland can wait a while, let me first discover the beautiful palaces in my neighbourhood." So true, and such a neglected truth.

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  2. Oh that looks amazing. The Hall was incredible -so beautiful with those Persian influences. Thanks for posting the pictures. I loved seeing yoru city.

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  3. Where is this place, I didn't get the location. Sorry if you have mentioned and I missed it.
    Beautiful shots!

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  4. In Hyderabad, in the old city close to Charminar.

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  5. Wow..really can't believe this is in Hyderabad. I am going to have to depend on you for a hyderabad tour the next time we are around Aunty :).

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  6. Anytime, Deepak. You will really love the place.

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