The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Royal venue beckons corporates

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Thursday, Nov 20, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Royal venue beckons corporates

Special Correspondent

Chowmahalla Palace thrown open for holding conferences

The price is being worked out between Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 2,000 per head
Afzal Mahal, the venue for Nizam’s official banquets, also opened for public

Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

Perfect ambience: The refurbished air-conditioned conference hall at the Chowmahalla Palace, which was thrown open to public on Wednesday. -

Hyderabad: There are no dearth of venues for conferences. But this one is unique. Out of the world to be precise. It offers an eyeful of the ‘Takth-e-Nishan’, the white marble thrown built in Mughal style at the Durbar Hall in Chowmahalla Palace. An ideal place to meet and talk shop.

The conference over, take lunch at the very place where kings and nawabs breakfasted and dined. Wow. That sure sounds great. Now one can actually do this. As part of the heritage week celebrations, the Royal conference room is thrown open to public on Wednesday. The refurbished air-conditioned hall has a period table with seating capacity for 50 persons. The table and chairs have been renovated aesthetically. Want to see how heritage can be artistically morphed to be relevant in this digital era then see this multimedia enabled room.

“We are writing to corporates to use this facility for holding conferences”, said palace director G. Kishan Rao.

Package

One can book the conference hall from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Does it cost a bomb? Well, tentatively the price is worked out between Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 2,000 per head. It includes tea at 11 a.m, working lunch comprising Hyderabadi food at 1.30 p.m followed by snacks at 3 p.m. In between there will be guided tour of the palace. On weekends the typical chowki dinner is planned.

“You can hold conferences in star hotels but this kind of royal ambience is difficult to get”, says Mr. Rao who has taken pains to renovate the palace retaining the old world charm.

Vintage cars

Not just this. Afzal Mahal, the most impressive of the four palaces in the courtyard, has also been thrown open to the public.

Venue for the Nizam’s official banquets, this renovated hall is something even the much travelled art aficionado will be in awe of. Another attraction is the fleet of vintage cars of the sixth Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan. They include 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost with an elevated throne compartment with a domed roof topped by a “dastaar”. There is also a 1906 Napier, 1947 Buick super convertible coupe, 1952 Packard and 1934 Ford Tourer. This was used by the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, exclusively to attend the Friday prayers at the Public Garden mosque.

These ravishing beauties are kept near the Band Stand at the rear of the palace.

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