Chowmahalla or the Four Palaces of Hyderabad

My friend Sandhya Vasanth is excited about the Hyderabad Festival and one of the music programmes was  held at the chowmahalla Palace. A jugalbandi between Pt Balamuralikrishna and Pt. Vishwamohan Bhat. This reminded me that I had promised her that i would put in the pictures of the palace.

The first two days of our Hyderabad visit were spent at Ushegaon-tumriguda villages near Adilabad  accompanied by Prof. Trilochan shastri of IIM, Bangalore. We were there on a study tour regarding the constitution of SHGs and their mode of functioning in Andhra Pradesh and to replicate  anything new from them in Karnataka. Though we were accompanied by our colleagues Kempegouda and Satish Kattimani, they did not come with us to the choumahalla, citing tiredness , as on the previous day we had been to the charminar and  had done some shopping at night and it was quite hectic to say the least.

Chaumahalla was the most favorite place i visited in Hyderabad. the watchman in the premise was kind enough to tell us the story of these four palaces. I always say a place is good or bad by the vibes/energies it gives out. My family members of course call me crazy..but thats how i am . This place has very good vibes and i spent more than half a day here. Enjoy the pictures

The Palace has a history which goes back to over a period of 200 years built by the Nizams of Hyderabad. the four palaces are named Afzal Mahal, Mehtab Mahal, Tahniyath Mahal and Aftaab Mahal. Great architectural splendour, a  sight for the sore eyes. The structures are the confluence of many architectural styles mostly persian though.The buildings and the gardens are  maintained quite well.

A view of the three palaces and the Khilwat Clock tower in the midst

At the entrance. The public toilet is housed here. Some repair work being undertaken

Loved the pot shaped light holders

Miniature of a palace in Silver

Boom

Me with the Nizam

The palm tree lined walk

the arches and the art

three of us with fountain and Darbar hall at the backdrop

The rest house for the visiting dignitaries on the south courtyard

Exact replica of the resting house on the northern courtyard

Inside the grand Darbar Hall also called the Khilwat mubarak

A view of the chandeliers

The Royal seat or the takt-e-nishan

A hand made print depicting the location of palaces and its garden in parchment paper

A room full of black and white pictures/painting showing the various people reigning Hyderabad and some of the palaces.

A close up of one of the chandeliers

Guard Bhaiyya said they have to be on their feet for eight hours at a stretch without any respite. Its totally inhuman if you ask me

Dont know what this is

Entrance to the armory

The grand Darbar Hall. Srikanth with his cell phone and me grring at him long distance :-) Private functions can be held at the hall said the guard

the Chou-shenoys at the choumahalla

Naked wrestlers - in marble

In the Nizams Armory- most of the pic in Srikanth's cell phone and that cell phone was lost. The armory has swords, sheaths, knives, khukri all well displayed , some with intricate designs.

Mannequins in royal attire

Hind entrance to the Palaces

Temple Trees in full bloom

Sri, me and akka

The clock tower to your right

A vintage car musuem housed in the premise. But nothing beats the vintage car museum of Dharmasthala

A closer view of the resting house

hah at last tired of the tour of the palaces we rest under the canopy of a shady tree with birds twittering away. But no breeze mind you

Miya, biwi aur beti no. 1. While me and Srikanth give a romantic pose Malavika is lost in a dream world of her own

the tasty fruit salad coated in malai. fruits were Sapota/Chikku, papaya and a a few pieces of pine apple.

One of our enjoyable jampacked office cum pleasure trips

This post is for you Sandhya Vasanth! Cilck on the pictures for a larger view

:-)

Photographs by Srikanth and Niharika

The exquisite Charminar

At night the charminar looks surreal illuminated by myriad lights of surrounding shops, commercialcomplex, street vendors, street light giving it a magical glow, really out of this world. the air is rife with cries of vendors drawing attention to their wares..the special Hyderabadi lac bangles, attars, lovely sequined /embroideried garments, pearls, coral and semi precious stone jewellery shops or the brightly coloured apples, figs and pomegranates. Its a hustle of activity which bombards our senses and we are at a loss as to where to begin.

there is a devi temple nestled right at the base of the Charminar. Since it was Navarathri time,devotees thronged the temple and bhajans and aarati were going on full swing. The temple is marked by the saffron flags

Lights go on in the four minarets during the muslim holy festivals.

Day time , charminar looks different, one cannot but marvel at the vast effort put in the construction of this majestic monument. It is a fine example of a blend of Hindu and Mughal architecture. the walls are made of sand, limestone, ground marble and Jaggery.

It is believed that the monument was constructed to commemorate the eradication of plague.

a tiny cat face is sculpted atop one of the latticed structures and is said to bring luck to people who look at it. Hope u all see it in my blog and get loads of luck. :-) this was shared with utmost confidence by the Bihari guard atop the charminar.

 He also whispered that a cat was sacrificed and buriedbelow one of the four arches,adding that the entry to the higher floors was restricted following the suicide of 5 women.

The inside of the dome.

the 'char' shenoys atop the char-minar :-). the just beginning traffic below

the makkah masjid backdrop, in all its splendour

miya-biwi :-)

latice work window typical mughal style

A smaller masjid as the backdrop. Seated in this place Quli Qutub shah promised to construct a monument 'if' the plague was completely eliminated from the city.(according to the guard)

     Same spot- close up

the Artistic insides of the dome 

May Allah bestow peace and prosperity on the city sayeth the inscription

 By the time i reached up i was quite giddy with the effort of climbing up the confined space of 129 narrow spiral steps. Only one person can use the space to go up/down and at times i did feel claustrophobic.

seen below the beginnings of an Early morning traffic



It was a great experience. The first two days were spent at Ushegaon,tumriguda villages near Adilabad accompanied by Prof. Trilochan shastri of IIM, Bangalore. It was late night when we entered Hyderabad. The lights around Husaain Sagar lake reminded me of Queens necklace / Marine Drive in Mumbai. The road along Husaain sagar lake is also called necklace road with the lights placed in semicircle manner along the lake ,twinkling, at night lending it an aura of a sparkling necklace

We could glimpse the monolithic Buddha statue in silhoutte.We were too tired to get out our cameras and shoot the picture. We just wanted to stretch our cramped, aching legs. Opposite to the lake is the famous 'lumbini' garden. we just looked at it passing by. could not include it in our schedule. 

Along the garden are the statues of the famous people of Hyderabad. 

We visited the Birla Mandir amidst tight security. Cell phone and cameras were banned inside the Mandir so had to kept back in the vehicle. I spotted a gola stall and in the excitement of eating forgot to get a picture of Birla Mandir, at least from the outside. :-)

We thoroughly enoyed this trip. the four of us were accompanied by our colleagues Kempegouda, Srikanth Sagar and Sateesh Kattimani. and not to forget the driver Dileep.

the Makkah (Mecca) Masjid. This is the famous LaaD bazaar.

We were just in time for the evening prayer. A person from the masjid said our wishes would come true if we prayed in this spot and as usual i forgot to wish!! :-)

Makkah masjid. I felt some good vibes here and spent more time here than at charminar or shopping!!

:-)