Falaknuma Palace

Falaknuma is a palace in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It originally belonged to the Paigah family, and was later owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is on a hillock and covers a area in Falaknuma, from Charminar. Built by Nawab Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, Prime Minister of Hyderabad and the uncle & brother-in-law of the sixth Nizam. Falak-numa means "Like the Sky" or "Mirror of Sky" in Urdu. An English architect William Ward Marret designed the palace. It is made completely with Italian marble with stained-glass windows and covers an area of . 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 his influences show in the architecture, which combines Italian 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. Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, the Prime Minister of Hyderabad, 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.