Chowmahalla Palace - Hyderabad

Site Name: Chowmahalla Palace

Site Type: Palace, Monument

Location:  Hyderabad city, Telangana state, India

Highlights: One of the important tourist attractions of Hyderabad

Nearest Railway Station: Hyderabad

Nearest Airport: Hyderabad

How to reach: Well connected by road, rail and air

Hotel: All sorts of options are available in Hyderabad 

Restaurants: Hyderabad city has no shortage of restaurants of all varieties

Hyderabad is an important city in South India. It is the capital city of the newly formed Telangana state as well as Andhra Pradesh state of India. Hyderabad, which is also called as 'the city of Pearls' is a historical city. In the last two decades, the city became very popular thanks to the IT companies. There are many popular and varieties of tourist spots such as forts, palaces, lakes, masjids and temples located in this city. Let us explore one of the most important tourist destination of the city, Chowmahalla Palace, in this article.

Introduction:

Chowmahalla Palace is located near the popular Charminar monument at the heart of the Hyderabad city. It is one of the main tourist attractions of Hyderabad city. 

The Asaf Jahi dynasty of Turkic origin came to India in the late 17th century CE and they served for the Mughals. They are also referred as Nizams. They ruled Hyderabad on behalf of the Mughals. After the demise of the Emperor Aurangazeb, the Nizams declared themselves as independent kingdom. Even after the British took over India, they were allowed to rule Hyderabad. They retained power till 1948 CE. This palace was the residence of the Hyderabad Nizam kings. 

In Persian language the word Chowmahalla means four palaces. The construction of the palace, which is believed to be modeled on Shah of Iran's palace in Tehran, got completed between 1857 CE and 1869 CE during the period of Afzal ad-Daula, Asaf Jah V.

The palace originally covered 45 acres, but now it covers only 14 acres, which is still a vast area. 

Entrance:

The entrance has elegant doors. Near the entrance, there are beautiful gardens and fountains. Some canons are also kept in these gardens. There are two courtyards, southern courtyard and northern courtyard in the palace.

Southern Courtyard:

The Southern Courtyard is the oldest part of the Chowmahalla Palace. It mainly has four halls, Afzal Mahal, Mahtab Mahal, Tahniyat Mahal and Aftab Mahal. The southern courtyard buildings are built in the neoclassical architectural style.

Northern Courtyard:

The Northern Courtyard has the long corridor of rooms called as Bara Imam. Facing the Bara Imam, the Shishe Alat building is located. It used to serve as the guest rooms for officials once. These buildings have Perisan elements of architecture style. 

Khilwat Mubarak:

The Khilwat Mubarak aka Durbar Hall is the highlight of the entire palace. It is the brightest place in the palace. It has 19 spectacular Belgian crystal Chandeliers. The hall is full of magnificent decorated pillars. The royal seat aka Takht-e-Nishan is placed in this hall. The floor and the pillars are made of marble. The ceilings and the pillars showcase great artwork. 

Clock Tower:

The clock above the main gate is also called as Khilwat Clock. It has been ticking away for around 250 years. 

Collections:

There are various rooms in the palace complex that house various artifacts such as weapons used by the Nawabs in those days, royal clothes, dress materials used by the royal family of Nawabs, Quran in different size and formats, silver materials, rare utensils, ancient pens, pencils, letters, and documents, miniature of various buildings, old photographs and paintings of Nawab family members, ancient clock, metal works, footwears used by the royal family, old coins, painted crafts, ivory materials, portraits, crockeries, elephant seats, royal seats, carts, vintage cars, old motor bikes, etc.

Happy travelling.