Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

located in

Jubilee Hills Jubilee Hills is an affluent suburban neighbourhood in Western part of Hyderabad, Telangana. It is one of the most expensive commercial and residential locations in India with prime land prices fetching up to 300,000 ($4015) per square yard. A ...

and

Banjara Hills Banjara Hills is an urban commercial centre and one of the most affluent neighbourhoods in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. This is an upmarket locality close to Jubilee Hills. This area was a hilly forest and was least inhabited in the past. Only ...

Hyderabad 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 (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

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 ...

. The park has an approximate area of . The palace complex was given to Prince

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 ...

on his coronation by his father Prince

Azam Jah Azam Jah, Damat Walashan Sahebzada Nawab Sir Mir Himayat Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur Bayaffendi ( ur, اعظم جاہ داماد والاشان صاحب زادہ نواب سر میر حمایت علی خان بہادر بے آفندی) (21/22 Feb ...

in 1967. It was declared as a National park by the Andhra Pradesh state government after getting approval from the central government in the year 1998. It is located centrally in Jubilee Hills and is described as ''a jungle amidst the concrete jungle''.The Eco sensitive zone was declared on 27 October 2020 by Govt. of India The complex has the palace and besides it the other property include Mor (peacock) bungalow on a hillock, Gol Bungalow; stables for elephant, horses and cattle, motor khana that housed a fleet of exquisite vintage cars, a workshop for heavy machinery, petrol pump, several outhouses, two wells and an equal number of water tanks.Prince Mukarram to give up Chiran Palace
The Times of India, 9 July 2010.

National park status

The entire palace complex area was declared as a National park by the

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

state government after getting permission from the central government in the year 1998. This gave control of the major part of the land to the forest department and the

Nizam 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 ...

was left with the control of only about 11 acres. As time passed the control of the

was further reduced to the present less than six acres. Further the park was renamed to Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park with only the palace building being referred to as Chiran palace, built in 1940. In June 2010 the Prince and his representatives reached an agreement with the state government to exchange Chiran Palace and 16 other pieces of his property scattered over the national park with six acres of land on the north-west corner of the park. This land would not be considered the part of the National park and thus will not provide access to forest officials and visitors to the park. All the properties on the land, including the Chiran palace, would be notified as part of the national park and the land to be handed out to the prince was struck out of the park. This agreement received the approval of The Indian Board of Wildlife,

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, and the central government.

The Palace

The Chiran Palace, unlike the other palaces of the

Falaknuma Falaknuma is a palace in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It originally belonged to the Paigah family, and was later owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is on a hillock and covers a area in Falaknuma, from Charminar. It was built by Nawab Sir V ...

or Chowmahalla, is a modern facility designed to serve the needs of the prince. It is not a palace in the traditional sense of the term. It is more like a big villa constructed on 6,000 sq meters of land. The duplex type palace has two cellars where the prince had his billiard room along with a large conference hall. The ground floor contains an armory hall, two guest rooms in addition to his office, a place for visitors, pantry and kitchen etc. The first floor comprises seven bedrooms where the Nizam lived with his wife and children.

The Park

The park provides an excellent lung space and environment from the busy city life and rising pollution levels. The park has over 600 species of plant life, 140 species of birds and 30 different varieties of butterflies and reptiles. Some of the animals making their home in the park include:

pangolin Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', '' Phataginus'', and '' Smut ...

small Indian civet The small Indian civet (''Viverricula indica'') is a civet native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its widespread distribution, widespread habitat use and healthy populations living in agr ...

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

jungle cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat, swamp cat and jungle lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to the Middle East, the Caucasus, South and Southeast Asia and southern China. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, littora ...

and porcupines. There are few water bodies present in the park providing the needed moisture for the plants and quenching the thirst of birds and small animals. One can commute to KBR Park through nearest

Metro station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase Train ticket, tickets, board trains, and Emergency eva ...

at Jubilee Hills Check Post or nearest MMTS station which is at Begumpet or Metro station at Jubilee hills checkpost. It is located in Jubilee Hills/Banjara Hills near

Check Post. Jublie Check Post, Annapurna Studios, Park Hyatt and LV Prasad Eye Hospital are the closest landmarks. The park is frequented in the evenings and weekends by young and old alike. In a letter to the Chief Minister of Telangana state Himayat Ali Mirza, the great-grandson of the Nizam VII, stated that the way his uncle Prince Mukarram Jah’s property known as Chiran palace was converted into KBR park, Nizam’s other lands ranging over thousands of acres seized under the ULC Act, 1976 should be converted into green parks and spaces for the general public.

Entry Fee

Entry fee for KBR Park is ₹ 40 for adults and ₹ 20 for children. The park is open from 5:00 or 5:30 to 10 am and 4 or 4:30 to 7 pm.sign at park gate 2019.07.01

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20100418204835/http://forest.ap.nic.in/WL%20KBRP.htm * http://kbrnp.com/ * https://www.telanganatourism.gov.in/partials/destinations/wildlife/hyderabad/kbr-national-park.html {{Protected areas in Telangana

Palaces of Nizams of Hyderabad A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whic ...