Falaknuma is a former palace and currently a luxury hotel in

Hyderabad, Telangana Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much of Hyderabad is sit ...

, India. It originally belonged to the

Paigah family Paigah family was a noble family from the former Hyderabad State. The family maintained their own court, individual palaces, and a standing army of about fourteen thousand infantry and cavalry troops. History The word ''Paigah'', which mean ...

, and was later owned by the

Nizam of Hyderabad Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...

. It is on a hillock and covers a area in Falaknuma, from

Charminar The Charminar () is a monument located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Constructed in 1591, the landmark is a symbol of Hyderabad and officially incorporated in the emblem of Telangana. The Charminar's long history includes the existence of a m ...

. Built by Nawab Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, Prime Minister of

Hyderabad state Hyderabad State () was a princely state in the Deccan region of south-central India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and the ...

and the uncle and brother-in-law of the sixth Nizam. ''Falak-numa'' means "Like the Sky" or "Mirror of Sky" in Urdu. At the time of its completion in 1893, it was the tallest building in Hyderabad. The palace post renovation carried out in 2010 today is a part of

Taj Group Taj may refer to: Buildings *Taj Mahal, a medieval mausoleum in the Indian city of Agra *Taj Palace, an Abbasid palace in medieval Baghdad * Taj-ul-Masajid, mosque in Bhopal * Taj building, Nowshera, Pakistan *Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, int ...

and has been renamed as Taj Faluknama Palace.

Design

An English architect William Ward Marret designed the palace. It is made completely with Italian marble with stained-glass windows. The palace was built in the shape of a scorpion with two stings spread out as wings in the north. The middle part is occupied by the main building and the kitchen, ''Gol Bangla'', ''Zenana Mehal'', and harem quarters stretch to the south. The Nawab was an avid traveller, and this reflects in the

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, which combines

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and Tudor influences. The Palace has a library with a carved walnut roof, a replica of the one at Windsor Castle. The library had one of the finest collection of the Quran in India. The ground floor of the Palace housed the living quarters. A marble staircase leads to the upper floor. It has carved balustrades, which support marble figurines with candelabra at intervals. One of the highlights of the Palace is the State Reception Room, where the ceiling is decorated with frescoes and gilded reliefs. The Ballroom contains a 2-ton manually operated organ, said to be the only one of its kind in the world. The palace has 60 lavishly decorated rooms and 22 spacious halls. It has some of the finest collections of the Nizam’s treasures, including paintings, statues, furniture, manuscripts and books. The jade collection at the Palace is considered to be unique in the world.

History

Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, the

Prime Minister of Hyderabad __NOTOC__ This article lists the prime ministers of the Hyderabad State. In 1919, Asaf Jah VII ordered the formation of the Executive Council of Hyderabad, presided by Sir Sayyid Ali Imam, and with eight other members, each in charge of one ...

, after a visit to Europe, decided to build a European styled residence for himself. The foundation stone for the construction was laid by Sir Vicar on 3 March 1884. It took nine years to complete the construction and furnish the palace. Sir Vicar moved into the ''Gol Bangla'' and ''Zanana Mahel'' of the Falaknuma Palace in December 1890 and closely monitored the finishing work at the ''Mardana'' portion. He used the palace as his private residence until the palace was handed over to the 6th Nizam of Hyderabad around 1897–1898. The palace was built and furnished at a cost of , which necessitated borrowing money from the

Bank of Bengal The Bank of Calcutta (a precursor to the present State Bank of India) was founded on 2 June 1806, mainly to fund General Arthur Wellesley's wars against Tipu Sultan and the Marathas. It was the tenth oldest bank in India and was renamed Ban ...

. In the spring of 1897, the sixth

Mir Mahbub Ali Khan Asaf Jah VI, also known as Sir Mir Mahboob Ali Khan Siddiqi (17 August 1866 – 29 August 1911), was the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad. He ruled Hyderabad State, one of the princely states of India, between 1869 and 1911. Early life Mahboob Al ...

was invited to stay at the palace. He extended his stay to a week, then a fortnight, and then a month, which prompted Sir Viqar to offer it to him. The Nizam accepted but paid some of the value of the palace. The Nizam used the palace as a guest house for the royal guests visiting the kingdom of Hyderabad. The list of royal visitors included

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

, Queen Mary,

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

and

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

. The palace fell into disuse after the 1950s. The last important guest was the President of India,

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, journalist and scholar who served as the first president of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independen ...

, in 1951. The palace was then restored after being leased by the Taj Group of Hotels. The restoration, which began in 2000, took ten years, and was managed by

Princess Esra Princess Esra Birgen (born Esra Birgen; 1936) is a Hyderabadi Noble from Turkey, who was once married to Crown Prince Mukarram Jah, the Head of the House of Asaf Jah of the Kingdom of Hyderabad. Personal life Princess Esra married Prince Muk ...

, the first wife of

Mukarram Jah Nizam Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah, Asaf Jah VIII (6 October 1933 – 15 January 2023), less formally known as Mukarram Jah, was the titular Nizam of Hyderabad between 1967 and 1971. He was the head of the House of Asaf Jah until h ...

. Now, the hotel is again used to host guests in Hyderabad, such as

Aga Khan IV Prince Karim al-Husseini (13 December 1936 – 4 February 2025), known as the Aga Khan IV, was the 49th Imamah, imam of Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Nizari Isma'ilism from 1957 until his death in 2025. He inherited the Imamate in Nizari doctrine ...

Ivanka Trump Ivana Marie "Ivanka" Trump (; born October 30, 1981) is an American businesswoman. She is the second child of Donald Trump, the president of the United States, and his first wife, Ivana. Trump was a senior advisor in her father's first admi ...

and

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

Palace architecture

One of the highlights of the palace is the state reception room, where the ceiling is decorated with

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es. The

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...

contains a two-ton manually operated organ said to be the only one of its kind in the world The palace has 60 rooms and 22 halls. It has considerable collections of the Nizam's artifacts including paintings, statues, furniture, manuscripts, books, an extensive

jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

collection, and the largest collection of Venetian chandeliers, with 40 138-arm Osler chandeliers in the halls. The dining hall can seat 101 guests. The chairs are made of carved

rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

with green leather upholstery. It has a library with a carved walnut roof, a replica of the one at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. The library houses more than five thousand books. It has an extensive collection of English, Urdu and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

books as well as copies of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, and rare first editions. Falaknuma Palace 09 - Dining table

Burroughs and Watts from England designed two identical billiards tables, one of which is in

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

and the other in the palace's billiards room. The palace was the private property of the Nizam family, and not normally open to the public, until 2000.

Renovation into a luxury hotel

In 2000,

Taj Hotels Taj Hotels is a chain of luxury hotels and a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, India. Incorporated by Jamsetji Tata in 1902, the company is a part of the Tata Group. The company employed over 20,000 peop ...

started renovating and restoring the palace. The renovated hotel was opened in November 2010.

In popular culture

* Scenes of films like

Radhe Shyam ''Radhe Shyam'' is a 2022 Indian period romantic fantasy Drama film written and directed by Radha Krishna Kumar. Produced by UV Creations and T-Series, the film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi languages and stars Prabhas and ...

, K.G.F: Chapter 2 and Sikandar were shot inside Falaknuma Palace.https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/news/sikandar-salman-khan-poses-at-hyderabads-falaknuma-palace-during-shoot-bigg-boss-contestant-arun-mashettey-shares-inside-pic-1357751

References

External links

Sydney Morning Herald article

Nizam used to have enough pearls to pave Piccadilly
{{coord, 17.330955, 78.467504, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Hyderabad State Heritage structures in Hyderabad, India Royal residences in India Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces Heritage hotels in India Hotels established in 2010 Tourist attractions in Hyderabad, India Houses completed in 1889 Hotels in Hyderabad Palaces of Nizams of Hyderabad Neoclassical architecture in India Palaces of Paigah of Hyderabad