Hyderabad: The clock tower on Chowmahalla palace’s door is being repaired finally. Workers could be seen atop the door, which is the main entrance into the Khilwat palace (main area). It may be recalled that a portion of the balcony on the same door had collapsed after heavy rains the city last.
The palace, built in the 1750s during the Asaf Jahi or Nizam era (1724-1948), is one of Hyderabad’s main tourist attractions in the Old City area after the Charminar.
It has been learnt that works on the clock tower have been undertaken after the management of the palace began fixing the entrance of the Khilwat palace, after a portion of it fell down last year. Work has been going on for some time now.
In the incident from 2020, debris comprising chunks of lime mortar and wooden beams from the clock tower fell on the Khilwat main road in the evening around 5:30 p.m. No one was injured.
Aside from this, the state government also recently restored the clock towers at Mahboob Chowk and the Moazzam Jahi market as well.
The Chowmahalla palace has been restored thanks to princess Esra, the ex-wife of prince Mukarram Jah, the grandson and heir of Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad (1911-48).
Interestingly, the palace was constructed by Salabat Jung, one of the three unofficial Nizams – two sons and one grandson – who died between 1748 and 1762 while trying to take over after the first Nizam Kamruddin Khan died in 1748.
Salabat, the last of the three, was never formally recognised by Delhi (Mughals). Nizam Ali Khan (1762-1803), another son of the first Nizam, took over eventually and was formally recognised.