The Chowmahalla Palace

The Chowmahalla Palace 

I've been to this place twice till date. Each time I'm here, I think of telling the world how beautiful a place this is. :) Yet, always, there's something more I need to capture, something more I need to spend time with. And then, I tell myself that I need to gear up for another visit to do justice to it. I'd love to go back one day, to spend a complete day, from the time they open to the time they shoo me off :p. Nevertheless, here's a story on what all I could capture in the two short visits I could pull off.

Chowmahalla, for all its grandeur and oppulence was the residence of the erstwhile Nizams of Hyderabad. Also, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Chowmahalla literally means Chow + Mahal = 4 palaces, namely - Afzal Mahal, Aftab Mahal, Mahtab Mahal and Tahniyat Mahal. It is claimed that the design and style of the palace was modeled after the palace of the Shah of Iran.

As we enter the palace, what we notice to our right and left are a series of rooms connected with long corridors. The left wing was used for administrative purposes and the right wing served as the royal guest house for important nobles who came to meet the Nizam.

The Khilwath (Grand Durbar Hall), where the Nizam held Durbar, is an important part of the Palace, so important that the road which leads to Chowmahalla was named after it.
Address - Chowmahalla Palace, Khilwath Road, Khilwat, Hyderabad.

Chandeliers - I just can't get enough of them. The 19 chandeliers hung in the Khilwath are made of spectacular Belgium crystals. They seem to bring back the lost splendour of the regal hall. When the Chowmahalla Palace was fully functional, the palace had 38 employees to dust chandeliers alone. Also, the palace has 6000 employees on whole, which consisted of 3000 Arab bodyguards, and several others specifically to grind the Nizam's walnuts.

 Intricate stucco work.

The English Bracket Clock is said to have been manufactured in England in the late 18th century. The clock is enriched with lots of brass metallic mounds and has five dials i.e., day, date , month, chime on 8 bells and cambridge chime. This mechanic clock is one of the most unique objects of the palace. It has more than 500 parts and 20 functions.

                         Painting of the Nizam.

Rooms of the Khilwath are now home to exhibits of several artifacts used by the Nizam. Then there's a hall upstairs filled with exquisite imports from Europe and China. 

Also, a side hall is home to several hand painted versions of the holy Quran. The books are painted with real gold, beat that! Surely a must visit place in the Palace. Unfortunately photography is not allowed in this chamber.

Next stop is Afzal Mahal,  where we get to see the wardrobe of the richest man of the world, during his times. I'll not talk, I'll not show. You should check them out yourselves. :)

Afzal Mahal

I'll talk about one outfit, just one, coz I just can't afford to not talk about it.
The first time I heard what it's called, I knew I'm going to like it however it is. :D
It's Khada dupatta, six and a half metres in length, usually embroidered or woven silk,  paired with a sleeveless kurti with a distinctive keyhole neckline. Under the kurti was worn a sleeved choli or blouse of coordinated fabric. Bottom was stitched from a rich brocaded silk of contrasting texture and colour.

Next we head to Aftab Mahal, the grandest mahal of the four, with lots of European influence. 

The ceilings clad in intricate stucco work.

Next stop is my favouritest.
Vintage Cars. :D

Back then, Nizam's garage was home to 60 cars. Out of which the 'Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Throne Car' of Nizam was made to order in the year 1911 with many special features.The original body was painted in rich canary yellow with gold mountings later re-bodied to reflect a 1930's style. All the body hardware, lights and roof dome with its fleur-de-lis pattern were finished in silver.
This car was sparingly used just for ceremonial occasions and in the last 100years it has done just 356 miles. It is a priceless car and represents the very important part of the Indian Automotive Heritage. Okay, I'll stop. :p

Clock Tower
This is the clock tower which houses the Khilwath clock. The clock has been ticking away ever since the palace was built. It is said that the people of the locality wait for its chimes and correct their own watches by the accuracy of this clock's timing.

A lantern in the Bara Imam.

Corridor view of Shishe-Alat.

ORR - Outer Ring Road :)

For someone who is bound by traffic on a light showered monsoon evening, the city's Outer Ring Road - ORR is an obvious pit stop. Heading towards the Cyber Towers, we took a left, going w.o.w at the Trident's iconic architecture to our right. A truly stunning piece of art. And then a right turn, much later a left. There it is, right there - the ORR. 

 As soon as you enter, there's this magnetic force that develops between your right foot and the accelerator.That moment, physics unfolds right under your right foot - the law of attraction. ( law of affinity, to be precise :p ) An instant self propelled magnetic force that stops you from acting sane anymore.The speedometer starts feeling abnormal as the engine starts developing a raging fever, and then, you start feeling as light as helium while the windows start rolling down.

A speedy-monsoon evening, the super charged ourselves - meant, stopping by a desert shop on the way back.
The sweet life!

It was a yellow blue place with some light music playing in the background, little pinks and lots of white window frames. 

And by little pinks I mean bougainvillea. I like bougainvillea in the backyards. :) I sort of love how delicately imperfect they are, so fragile, but at the same time completely flaunting their beauty. Feeling happy with the happy place we took a stroll to check it out.

:: The routine thing.

Then came a hazelnut ice cream topped with colourful jujubes (toothsome chewys), rainbow sprinklers and white-choconuts.

:: The good thing.

When it's a dessert day, brownie and vanilla combo is a must! Like an obsessive compulsion - because sometimes, you don't have to choose between a goodthing and a new thing. Old things are always good. The mere fact that they've stayed with you for so long replicates how awesome they are! :p

But this time it was an old thing with a new touch. Presenting, the *vanilla dark chocolate sizzler* - A srumptious hot chewy brownie bathed in dark chocolate sauce, left to sizzle until it turned golden and started bubbling, then topped with a large scoop of fresh french vanilla ice cream. :D 

:: And then, the new thing.

Those 'pink n pretty' luscious strawberry cupcakes. They've got the looks and also a delectable flavour to back them up. And that one on top was a caramelized strawberry. I don't know what it is about them that makes for such a lovely pair! They are heavenly together. Caramelized strawberries. :* They stir up your gastronomical senses and direct your mind to coordinate your toungue to go 'Ummm!' in appreciation.

The most flavoursome dessert listing for a chilled monsoon evening. :) 

Gautama Buddha - Hussain Sagar :)

It was one of those hazy summer evenings. It was a hectic day. We planned to visit an ancient church a week ago, but forcibly chose to forget about it. I was at my desk, dispatching some urgent mails, hoping to squeeze in sometime to write, inorder to make up for an unexcitedly spent monday and then my phone rings, partner-in-crime it reads, as it rings.

   

The voice on the other end says "Come down, I'll be there in five minutes, we are going out!" Over.

In the next ten minutes, I find myself clicking away random people on the road through an untinted windshield. :)

Two minutes after the engine stopped, we find ourselves standing in a queue, a board overhead reads - Ticket counter. 

There was this  northindian women who was draped in a jig red saree with sindhoor in her hair - half way up her hairline, clutching her bag in one hand and holding a baby in another, standing right next to us. She wore a sweet smile and was taking in all of the surroundings at one glance with her innocent eyes and then her eyes darted to a tall man in his late twenties, standing at the ticket counter with a straight face counting the change he just received along with the tickets. As more tourists swarmed in, this family of three slowly disappeared from sight.

The ticket counter was a circular place with around 6 ticket collectors  half facing the road and half facing the entrance from the car parking area. I said, "Tickets for 2". After 300 seconds he realises he doesn't have change for the 100 rupee note I gave. Neither I nor my friend had change. So we waited in the line till some blessed being with 10 rupee notes came up.

  There was this family behind - a family of four - mummy, papa and two kids - 'hum do hamare do' type :p
A women in her early thirties, she was short, had a high pony and huge shades which covered 3/4th of her face, she was accompanied by a man of similar age with a bald and not so cool T-shirt. Kids are kids anyday, jumping here and there, one hitting the other - the other crying and complaining. One hiding - other searching anxiously for the lost one, feeling annoyed, realising theres no one to fight with. :p

There was another queue at the boating front - A guy in the family (family includes his wife, his lil son, his father and mother) who stood right infront of us starts acting ultra conscious of being checked out by us. We looked at each other - we understood - and then we burst out laughing. "Anna- please anna - even if you were the only one left on earth we'd show no interest in you. Please stop acting wierd _/\_ " we talk this to ourselves and then we start laughing again. Before more drama happens, our boat arrives and a man in khaki guides us inside. :p

Do you wish your backyard opened to something like this? ;)

After some hustle and bustle our captain triggered the engine. As we went further into the sagar, he seemed more closer, the one i was so excited to meet. He's an year younger to me in our city. I've been here for an year more than him. His arrival was late, but his existence dates back to 500 - 400 BC. :)

He is tall - 58feet high reaching out to the skies.There's a serene charm on his face. He stands in the middle of a lake which was once drinking water. I've seen him so many times. I just can't forget the way he looks at me. He's pretty silent all the time, doesn't talk much, still I hear him. I know him. He knows me as well. He knows all shades of me. The excited me, the happy me, the angry me, the petrified me, the 'all' me :p  He's been there through summer and winter, he's been there day in and day out. Never less radiant than the day before with a serene look on his face, lucidly complex, conveying something new, each time we meet. He's been there throughout. Today we meet. I touch him for the first time since we are born. The first time ever. He feels happy..he's so gald to see me - so am I. :) 

My phone did a better job than my 50mm. The complete man completely. 

 Before Buddha.

Yes that's the Birla Mandir from Gibraltar Rock. :)

Birla Mandir Out-of-focus :p

Before we do the usual talking, our boat was back,and the khakhi uncle was urging us to get in. All serenity lost in the Rock of Gibraltar, we were back in the city again.

Stopped by a shimmery shop on the way back.

Then all of a sudden our tummies started talking :p

Telling ourselves we burnt few calories walking all the way up and down to the boating front, we decided to have some cheese , some more cheese and stopped by Dominos to have a Cheese Burst Pizza. Badluck knocked Dominos and they ran out of stock. We then headed to PizzaHut not planning to drop our cheesy dinner plan.

A nice day should end with a nice dessert. Yes or no?

Next stop - Donut House!

Recollecting how much cheese we had, we thought of cutting down on dessert and somehow managed to agree to share one.(Frankly we were already full) As we entered the place the donutty aroma compelled us to forget our vow.

There was this father-daughter duo - and their table filled with colourful donuts. Chocolate was all over the little girls face, here and there, everywhere. Then suddenly they are remembered of a living creature back at home, who also survives by eating food. She says,"Daddy, for mummy? :o".Then the father walks himself to the donuts in display and says '3 take away'.

It was hard to choose just two out of the many in display, we were gazing at butterscotch seriously thinking if we should take it :p There was a single butterscotch left, uncle says,"Pack butterscotch", he then noticed us, glaring at him like a thief who just robbed a gold bar and ran away. He politely said "If you want that, you can have it. They'll make another one." :p Then we politely smiled back to assure him that we weren't planning to kill him. :p

Butterscotch and White marble.

Happily lost!
28 April '14 :)