Since time immemorial, Charminar had been the emblem of Hyderabad.....tourists visiting the city flock to the old city on the banks of Musi river to catch a glimpse of a heritage that symbolizes our city...or probably to experience the old world charm of the minars, bazaars,the hijab clad women, surma lined eyes, white bowl shaped caps which reminds one of the tales of arabian nights....
but right behind the Mecca Masjid, within 200 meter radius of Charminar, stands another, and probably more majestic example of the architechtural heights attained by the nizams, who once ruled this land....a splendid palace consisting of luxurious fountains, impressive gardens, imposing gates, intricate meshwork of nizami designs on the four Mahals, from which the name Chowmahalla palace got derived....a palace less frequented by visitors as compared to the Charminar, probably because of lack of adequate marketing and promotion than what the palace deserved...
Had Amrita not insisted on visiting Chowmahalla, in her last training session in Hyderabad, we probably would not have discovered this piece of hisorical magnificence, at least, not so soon....the way we experienced the abode and the lifestyle of the nizams and the begums was unique in its own way...when we stepped into the palace, we were 2 minutes away from the scheduled closure time...the security guard, being highly loyal to his duty hours,barred us from entering.....hence leaving me with no other scope than to adopt a drama and a basketful of lies....my Wells Fargo visiting card emphasized and supported me in all ways....my designation of 'Corporate Communication' and the proposal of a 'venue recce for an upcoming event of my company' did all the trick...a typical example of misutilization of my corporate identity....the three of us (minus the entry tickets) were escorted by a local officer guiding us through the different facades of the building....contribution of my husband is note worthy here in terms of his timely cognition and appropriate application of lingustic skills.... the security personnel assisting us was a cute young lad hailing from Assam...and our Assamese root immediately established connect and brotherhood....he and my husband were both happy to converse with each other in Assamese... very nicely, with utmost care, he showed us the place around...had our 'bhaitie' not been there, we probably would have ended up seeing and guessing things on our own...he coordinated with his fellow co workers and the other security guards and showed us all the places within that limited time frame... the 4 palaces now houses a museum exhibiting different items used by the nizam, the items ranged from crockery, armaments, stagecoaches, vintage cars, robes, showpeices, furnitures, chandeliers, so on and so forth...a well maintained garden tops up the beauty of the place....
for now, let me rest my pen, and let the pictures do the rest of the talking
by the way...i didnot completely misutilize my id card....highly impressed with the grand demeanor of the palace, i have proposed to my folks in office for conducting an event in Chowmahalla...and hope to see the day in near future
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