CHOWMAHALLA PALACE
The Chowmahalla Palace is one of the rich heritages of Hyderabad. It was the official place of the Nizams. This palace contains a durbar hall, gardens, fountains and courtyards. The palace is unique and famous for its architecture. It manifests the Neo-classical, European, Persian, Rajasthani and the Indo-Saracenic architectural style. This palace has been awarded two INTACH heritage awards and one Asia-Pacific heritage award.
The durbar hall in the palace is known as the heart of the palace. It is a very large hall enhanced with Persian elements and engrossing chandeliers from Belgium. In this hall, the Nizams had their durbar and most of the ceremonies. One of the Nizams of Hyderabad, Salabut Jung, initiated its construction in 1750 and came up with the durbar hall around the year 1880. The clock tower in the palace known as the Khilawat clock has been ticking till date. There is also a stylish outdoor corridor with a number of rooms lined up. The palace has a large dining room with antique dining tables which can seat a huge number of people. In this palace, there is another hall of heritage, art and craft. This hall has many paintings, pictures of rulers, Pingani ceramic crockery and a lot more items from different countries like Belgium, Japan, China etc. Most of the tiles, flooring patterns and walls in the palace are carved and enhanced with precise floral patterns.
In the palace, there is a huge collection of swords, shields, axes, lancers, body armours, revolvers, pistols, rifles, cannons and a lot more weapons. The swords are diamond-studded and most of the weapons are from Deccan and Mughal dynasties. The palace also has a separate Quran hall, which shelves multiple prints of the holy book. Chowmahalla Palace swanks few good-looking and vintage cars that were used by the Nizams. The Rolls Royce is the most famous among them all! Other cars such as that of Ford, Fiat, Wolseley & Sedan are also unique and special.
Overall, this monument is one of the most unique, magnificent and splendid tourist attractions.
