Falaknuma is a palace in

Hyderabad, Telangana Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It originally belonged to the Paigah family, and was later owned by the

Nizam of Hyderabad The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

. It is on a hillock and covers a area in Falaknuma, from Charminar. It was built by Nawab Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, Prime Minister of Hyderabad and the uncle & brother-in-law of the sixth Nizam. ''Falak-numa'' means "Like the Sky" or "Mirror of Sky" in Urdu.

Design

An English architect William Ward Marret designed the palace. Sir Vicar's monogram "VO" is on the furniture, walls and ceiling of the palace. It is made completely with Italian marble with stained-glass windows and covers an area of . The palace was built in the shape of a scorpion with two stings spread out as wings in the north. The middle part is occupied by the main building and the kitchen, ''Gol Bangla'', ''Zenana Mehal'', and harem quarters stretch to the south. The Nawab was an avid traveller, and his influences show in the

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, which combines Italian and Tudor influences.

History

Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, the Prime Minister of Hyderabad, after a visit to Europe, decided to build a European styled residence for himself. The foundation stone for the construction was laid by Sir Vicar on 3 March 1884. It took nine years to complete the construction and furnish the palace. Sir Vicar moved into the ''Gol Bangla'' and ''Zanana Mahel'' of the Falaknuma Palace in December 1890 and closely monitored the finishing work at the ''Mardana'' portion. He used the palace as his private residence until the palace was handed over to the 6th Nizam of Hyderabad around 1897–1898. The palace was built and furnished at a cost of , which necessitated borrowing money from the

Bank of Bengal The Bank of Calcutta (a precursor to the present State Bank of India) was founded on 2 June 1806, mainly to fund General Wellesley's wars against Tipu Sultan and the Marathas. It was the first bank of India and was renamed Bank of Bengal on ...

. In the spring of 1897, the sixth

Mir Mahbub Ali Khan Asaf Jah VI, also known as, Sir Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi (17 August 1866 – 29 August 1911) was the 6th Nizam of Hyderabad. He ruled Hyderabad state, one of the Princely states in India between 1869 and 1911. Early life Mahboo ...

was invited to stay at the palace. He extended his stay to a week, then a fortnight, and then a month, which prompted Sir Viqar to offer it to him. The Nizam accepted but paid some of the value of the palace; the Paigah family maintains that around was paid. The Nizam used the palace as a guest house for the royal guests visiting the kingdom of Hyderabad. The list of royal visitors included

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

, Queen Mary,

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

and Tsar Nicholas II. The palace fell into disuse after the 1950s. The last important guest was the President of India, Rajendra Prasad, in 1951. The palace was then restored after being leased by the Taj Group of Hotels. The restoration, which began in 2000, took ten years, and was managed by

Princess Esra Princess Qhabl Begum Sahiba Esra Birgen (born 1936) is a princess belonging to the Asaf Jah Dynasty of Hyderabad state by marriage. She was married to Prince Mukarram Jah. Princess Esra is a princess by marriage, not by birth. She is credite ...

, the first wife of

Mukarram Jah Nizam Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah, Asaf Jah VIII (born 6 October 1933), less formally known as Mukarram Jah, has been the titular Nizam of Hyderabad since the death of his grandfather in 1967. He currently chairs the H.E.H. The Niz ...

. Now, the hotel is again used to host guests in Hyderabad, such as Aga Khan IV, Ivanka Trump and

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

Palace architecture

One of the highlights of the palace is the state reception room, where the ceiling is decorated with

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es. The

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

contains a two-ton manually operated organ said to be the only one of its kind in the world Falaknuma Palace - Entrance - 2

The palace has 60 rooms and 22 halls. It has considerable collections of the Nizam's artifacts including paintings, statues, furniture, manuscripts, books, an extensive

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

collection, and Venetian

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

s. It has a library with a carved walnut roof, a replica of the one at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

. The library houses more than five thousand books. It has an extensive collection of English, Urdu and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

books as well as copies of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

, and rare first editions. Falaknuma Palace 09 - Dining table

The dining hall can seat 101 guests. The chairs are made of carved rosewood with green leather upholstery. Burroughs and Watts from England designed two identical billiards tables, one of which is in

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

and the other in the palace's billiards room. The palace was the private property of the Nizam family, and not normally open to the public, until 2000.

Renovation into a luxury hotel

In 2000, Taj Hotels started renovating and restoring the palace. The renovated hotel was opened in November 2010.

References

External links

Sydney Morning Herald article

Nizam used to have enough pearls to pave Piccadilly
{{coord, 17.330955, 78.467504, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Hyderabad State Heritage structures in Hyderabad, India Royal residences in India Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces Heritage hotels in India Hotels established in 2010 Tourist attractions in Hyderabad, India Houses completed in 1889 Hotels in Hyderabad Palaces of Nizams of Hyderabad Neoclassical architecture in India Palaces of Paigah of Hyderabad