Faluknama

Hyderabad in Old Postcards - Falaknama Castle

Falaknuma Palace

Men guarding the Falaknuma Castle.

Photo: Jack Birns

Sep 01, 1948

The Faluk-numa Palace, Hyderabad

A view of the Falaknuma Palace, taken by Deen Dayal in the 1880s, from the Curzon Collection: 'Views of HH the Nizam's Dominions, Hyderabad, Deccan, 1892'. Falaknuma Palace, literally 'Mirror of the Sky', was designed in 1872 by an English architect as the private residence of a rich Muslim grandee. In 1897 the Nizam purchased it for use as a guest house. The main part of the building is classical in style with a two storey verandah carrying a central pediment. Another smaller building to the rear, which once housed the zenana, is designed in Indo-Saracenic style. The interior is opulent with an Italianate staircase and a fountain in the marble entrance hall, lined with portraits of British Governor-Generals. The future King George V and Queen Mary stayed here in 1906. This is a distant view of the palace from an opposite hillside.

Falaknamar Palace, Hyderabad

Photograph of the Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad taken by an unknown photographer in the 1900s. The photograph is from an album containing views of various locations in India, formerly in the collection of Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, (1850-1916), who was Commander in Chief of India between 1902 and 1909.
Falaknuma literally means Mirror of the Sky. The palace was designed in 1872 by an English architect as the private residence of a rich Muslim grandee but in 1897 was purchased for use as a guest house by the Nizam. The front facade is in Palladian style, while the rear building, the Zenana is in Indo-saracenic style. The interior is equally opulent containing a marble entrance hall with an Italian staircase and a fountain. King George V and Queen Mary stayed here in 1906 and electric lights were installed for the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1926.