Hyderabad, September 22: Chowmahalla Palace, one of the spectacular monuments of the Asaf Jahi rulers of Hyderabad, won the prestigious Asia Pacific Heritage Merit Award from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation ( UNESCO) for cultural heritage conservation for the year 2010.
The palace, located close to the Charminar, is the only monument from India to win the award, out of 33 entries from 14 countries. The award presentation ceremony would be take place in Hyderabad in November. According to Chowmahalla Palace director G Kishan Rao, the UNESCO had acknowledged the restoration of Chowmahalla Palace as a unique achievement, rescuing an extraordinary complex from years of abandonment.
Chowmahalla Palace was the royal court of the Asaf Jahi rulers ( 1724- 1948). It was called Chowmahalla Palace because it is a complex comprising four palaces — Afzal, Aftab, Mehtab and Tahniyat mahals — constructed around beautiful gardens. The construction of the complex began during the rule of Nizam Salabat Jung ( 1751- 1762).
“ The palaces, among the finest royal edifices in India, served as venues for most of the ceremonial functions of the Asaf Jahi dynasty including gala state receptions for British Viceroys and imperial emissaries for nearly two centuries,” Rao said.
The palace once covered an area of nearly 30 acres. The rambling grounds were fragmented and by the turn of the 21st century, the site had diminished to less than a third of its original extent. Conservation for the palace was initiated in August 2000 by Princess Esra, wife of Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur, Nizam of Hyderabad. The work was completed in 2005 when the palace was thrown open to the public.
-Agencies