Field trip to Chowmahalla Palace

On 23^rd of February, 2012, the CIE students of grades VII and VIII were taken on a field trip to Chowmahalla Palace in order to inculcate the idea of the history of Hyderabad among the students. With our hearts filled with excitement, we started from Oakridge International School at 9:40 am. In the bus we entertained ourselves throughout the 1 hour journey by singing songs. As we entered Old City, the roads narrowed. On the way, we spotted many buildings the Nizams built. We reached the Chowmahalla Palace at around 10:25 am.

As we entered the palace we were surrounded by long courtyards on either side. After proceeding from the security check we moved through the soldiers resting camps to reach the main palace of the complex- The Mehtab Mahal.

Inside the palace we saw the darbar, the court-hall where the tall pillars and chandeliers. The king was always seated on an elevated platform.

Then we were led into the picture galleries on the left and right sides of the court-hall, which talked about the history of the Nizams through pictures, manuscripts etc. the palace originally occupied 48 acres of land compared to the present 12 acres remaining.

The palace belonged to the Asif-Jahi dynasty, initiated for construction by Salabhat Jung; however, it was completed by Afzar-Ud-Dawla.

Here we saw the royal palakis placed on elephants on which the Nizams travelled. We also saw the currencies, seals and letters written by the Nizams.

We were then taken to another picture room which contained family pictures of the Nizams. The 8th Nizam is still alive and resides in Turkey.

Then, we went up the creaking stairs to reach the room containing textiles and artifacts of the Nizams which included Bidri Crafts and the crafts from Andhra Pradesh. The artifacts included treasure boxes, dolls etc. Ivory was used in decorating most of the artifacts.

The clothes were grand and elegant made of many different materials including velvet and silk.

We then came down to another room consisting of paintings of many Nizam rulers. A picture of Mahaboob Ali Khan with 2 dead tigers suggested that hunting was prominent.

We then moved on towards the ‘crockery room’ where we saw cups, bowls, plated, jugs and collections from many parts of the world including Germany, China and Persia. Wine consumed by the Nizams was also on exhibit.

Then we moved towards the Seliah Khana, armory. Here, we were surrounded by different kind of swords, daggers, shields and armor coats. We also spotted a hunting palaki.

After visiting 2 opposite rooms exhibiting armory, we moved on through the huge courtyard to the second palace- The Taninat Mahal. They led us into a hall which contained some ancient furniture of the Nizams. Here, we came across a stuffed tiger, 2 mirrors of around 6 feet, an old song player and a chariot clock which still works!

We walked to the third palace- The Aftab Mahal, which displayed the queens and their children’s jewels, Clothes and more. Music was played to give an idea about the sort of music the Nizams listened to at that time.

From here we moved on to the ‘Buggie Khana’. Here we came across cars from FIAT to WOLSELEY which was about a century old. The main attraction was the 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Phantom. Embodied with gold. This car is said to be one of the most expensive cars in the world.

From there, we moved on to the last palace called the Afzal Mahal. Although we could not enter, through the windows we could see the living room of the Nizams. We could see huge curtains anchored to the extra tall windows and two huge mirrors on the opposite sides of the room.

During the long walk while moving back we passed the council-hall and the clock tower popularly known as the Khilwat Clock, which has been ticking away since the palace was built.

After a long walk, tired and exhausted, we boarded the school bus at around 12 noon.

The rest of the time in the bus we spent relaxing, singing songs and playing games. After the 50 minute journey we reached school at 12:50pm. This trip to Chowmahalla Palace has helped us learn a lot for this we are thankful to everyone involved.

 Swetha Jasti and Advay Bhagirath (VII H)