CHOWMAHALA PALACE AND SALARJUNG MUSEUM – HYDERABAD

After enjoying at fantastic Hyderabad zoo, astonishing Sudha cars museum, magnificent Birla Temple and wonderful Golconda Fort we moved further for our next points on the following day. The next day points were Chowmahalla Palace and Salarjung Museum. We had very less time on that day as we had our train to Chennai at 1800 hrs and in any case we had to finish these points by 1500 hrs. We started at 0900 hrs from Hi-Tech City and reached our first point sharp at 1000 Hrs
a) Chowmahalla Palace: It is located at Khilwat, Motigalli, Hyderabad. The timings for viewing this palace are 1000hrs to 1700hrs and it is closed on Friday and National Holidays. The tickets for Indian Visitors is Rs 40/- where as for International visitors is Rs 150/-.The good thing about this palace is that photography is allowed in this palace. They charge Rs 50/- for still camera and Rs 100/- for video camera. However no charges if you are clicking from your mobile camera. But there are few galleries inside the palace where photography is not allowed.
Now a little about Chowmahalla Palace (Courtesy www.chowmahalla.com):

“Chow means four and Mahal means palace , therefore Chowmahalla means four palaces.Chowmahalla Palace was the seat of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty where the Nizams entertained their official guests and Royal visitors. Built over 200 years ago, Chowmahalla is renowned for its unique style and elegance. A synthesis of many architectural styles and influences, the Palace complex has been meticulously restored. While Nizam Salabhat Jung is credited with initiating the construction of the palace complex in 1750,it was Nizam Afzar-ud-Dawla Bahadur who ensured that it was completed between 1857 and 1869.Extending from Laad Bazaar on the north to the Aspan Chowk Road on the south ,the palace originally covered 45 acres but regrettably only 12 acres remain. The Chowmahalla complex which is a replica of the Shah’s palace in Tehran, Iran today consists of two courtyards with elegant palaces, the grand Khilwat (the Durbar Hall),fountains and Gardens”
Now as regards to my opinion It is a must must see point at Hyderabad if you want to see how was the lifestyle of Nizam’s, their clothes, their crockery’s, furniture’s, car, baghhi’s , royal family’s personal photographs and above all the palace itself. It is just mind blowing. The main attraction in the palace is British Clock.

b)British Musical Clock: (Details from the article in “The Hindu” Newspaper)

(Courtesy www.mouthshut.com)

This antique clock performs nearly 20 different functions. It has a timekeeper emerging from an upper deck and striking the gong as many times as the hour of the day. The Chowmahalla clock has even more to offer. The chiming clock strikes on the quarter hours too with a different tune playing out every 15 minutes. A king with a ‘hooka’ is ensconced in the front. His head keeps bobbing up and down every second. He is flanked by two soldiers who keep fanning him. A small curtain goes up every hour and a toy band saunters in playing a ‘sarangi’.
A peep into its rear shows the marvellous chiming bells and the figurines attached to a moving lever. Not just this. The clock has subsidiary dials for the day, date and month at the bottom. This huge pendulum clock is full of brass work. There are exquisite carvings of dragons on the sides and top of the mahogany cabinet in which the clock is encased. “It is so heavy that 15 persons have to carry it,” says a palace hand.
Other attractions are Royal Family photographs and the palace interior and Architecture. The palace is really restored very well. All thanks to the Architectures and the team who all have done this wonderful work. But I would say this is a place for which I will give 10/10…Just Superb! If you are going to see this palace then reserve at least 2 hours to see all four palaces, galleries, Vintage cars and Baghis….

The pics above are very few to showcase Chowmahalla Palace

So, it was now 1200 hrs and we were ready to go to our next point. So our next point was Salar Jung Museum. We proceeded towards SalarJung Museum. On our way we had also crossed Charminar. As we were left with very less time and due to car parking problem near CharMinar we decided to take a view of it from Car itself and proceed further to SalarJung Museum.

c)SalarJung Museum: The Salarjung Museum is the third largest museum in India housing the biggest one-man collections of antiques in the world. It is situated on the southern bank of the river Musi. It is not far from the other important monuments of the old city. The historic Charminar, Jama Masjid, High Court, State Central Library and the Osmania General Hospital are all within a radius of one mile from the Salar Jung Museum. The entry fee at Salar Jung Museum is Rs.10/- for Indians and Rs.150/- for International Visitors. Timings for this museum are 1030 hrs to 1700 hrs and it remains closed on Friday. The bad thing about this museum is photography is not allowed inside .Now a little about Salar Jung Museum as mentioned in their website (www.salarjungmuseum.in)

“The Salar Jung Museum was established in 1951.The major portion of the collection of the museum was acquired by Mir Yousuf Khan popularly Known as Salar Jung III.Mir Yousuf Khan was only the collector of antiques but he also patronizes poets, writers and artists, encouraging literary and cultural activities. He continued his zeal as an art connoisseur till the very end of his life enriching his art collections.”

It is a Ground + 1 structure with Indian, Eastern and Western Galleries. There are 38 galleries in the Museum spread over in three buildings on two floors. The Museum also has many coordinating sections such as Education wing, Chemical conservation laboratory, photo section, display section, Reception and Sales Counter.

a) Indian Galleries – Founder’s Gallery, Bronze and Painted Textiles, Indian Sculptures, Ivory Gallery, Children Gallery, Veiled Rebecca, Arms and Armors, Indian modern painting, Toys and dolls, Flora and Fauna, Jade, Bidri etc.
b) Eastern Galleries – Chinese, Japanese, Chinese Porcelain, Eastern statuary galleries etc.
c) Western Galleries – European painting, glass, clock, porcelain, Bronze and Marble sculpture galleries etc
Each gallery is unique and beautiful. My personal favorite art work in this gallery is Veiled Rebecca and Double statue. Other galleries like painting, marble sculpture, and Ivory galleries are worth to watch. This Museum also has one British Musical Clock. The musical clock at Salar Jung bought from Cook and Kelvy of England. Every hour, a timekeeper emerges from the upper deck of the clock to strike a gong as many times as it is the hours of the day. Previously clock at Salar Jung was more famous and was main point of attraction. But now this grand Musical clock has competition. It is now challenged by another chime clock which was lying under layers of dust and neglect at the picturesque Chowmahalla palace and later on it was repaired and kept in Chowmahalla palace for display.

(Courtesy www.salarjungmuseum.in)
The entry ticket for the Salar Jung Museum itself is a good idea. This ticket can be used as a Book mark.

A visit to this Museum is a delight for art lovers. Even if you are not interested then also you should visit it once. When ever you are visiting Salar Jung Museum make sure you must have at least 3 hours so that at least you can see the galleries (not in detailed although).The Museum is very big and you actually get tired walking inside all the galleries. But still it is worth watching. If you are visiting Hyderabad and not visiting Salar Jung Museum then your trip is incomplete.

This finishes our Trip at Hyderabad and we headed back to our home to collect our stuff with a in between halt at Kamat’s Restaurant for a quick Lunch.

There are many important points in Hyderabad which were left and we were unable to cover all points even in 3 days. This means we have to plan one more trip to Hyderabad. One more point which was highly recommended by my cousin was Surendrapuri. It is a Mythological Museum 55 km from the Hyderabad City. It has replica of all the famous temples of India and also known as mythological awareness Centre. This place also needs 4-6 hours to visit it fully.

So plan your tour to Hyderabad and enjoy the wonderful places here. Here I finish my Journey of Hyderabad. And if you do not have time right now to visit Hyderabad then you are free to search all these places on the Google else watch movie “The Angrez”. This movie is based on Hyderabad and all of you who are movie lover would definitely love this movie. Am I promoting this movie? OH, Yes I am actually asking everyone to watch this movie as this movie is real fun and you will thank me that I had suggested this movie.

“To Miyan, Kidar Ja rahe, hallu hallu padna is post ko”….Just loved Hyderabad, Love India, Love travelling!

ENJOY!!