Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad

The Chowmahalla Palace or literally “4 palace” was the residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad. This palace complex served a ceremonial role including coronations and state banquets. The palace is said to be modeled after the palace of the Shah of Iran. This particular palace was built in 1750.

DSC_0716
Khilawat Mubarak or Grand Hall
DSC_0694
The grand hall, adorned with crystal chandeliers
DSC_0696
The long red carpet corridors above the grand hall
DSC_0688
A Belgian crystal glass chandelier in the grand hall (Khilawat Mubarak)
DSC_0675
A chandelier against a beautifully decorated door
DSC_0685
Details of the ceiling in the grand hall of Chowmahalla Palace

As a first time visitor to Chowmahalla, I was impressed by the grandeur of this palace, immaculately maintained grounds and buildings, and tremendous opportunities for photography. Needless to say I shall be visiting there again on my next trip to Hyderabad.

DSC_0669
A front view of the Khilawat Mubarak
Technical Details

All pictures from a Nikon D80 camera fitted with a Tamron 18-250mm f3.5/5.6 zoom lens. Photographs processed in Adobe Lightroom and NIK software suite. Larger versions of the photographs are available from my flickr page.

Doors to Perception

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infiniteWilliam Blake

DSC_0661-Edit
Infinite doors at Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, India

Photographed at the Chowmahalla Palace, the seat of the Nizams of Hyderabad, India (January 2012).