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Most of India's best-known palaces are named
after the cities or towns where they stand. This one's a different one: Murshidabad's
Hazarduari Palace, named after the number of doors it has. Which, considering the fact
that it's called `Hazarduari', should strictly speaking be thousand (`hazar' being
thousand, and `duar' being door), but is actually just nine thousand. Which, incidentally,
is not the only reason to visit this stunning palace- you can, if you wish, spend your
entire day counting each door, but do set aside a few hours to admire the amazing museum
that is a part of the palace. |
The Hazarduari Palace in
Murshidabad (West Bengal) was designed in 1837 by General Duncan McLeod of the Bengal
Engineers for Murshidabad's Nawab Najim Humayun Jah. An imposing three-storied rectangular
building, it lies amidst sprawling gardens (covering a total of 41 acres) and is a fairly
unblemished example of Italian-style architecture. The palace consists of 8 galleries and
114 rooms, with a colonnaded façade, a domed tower, high windows, beautifully ornate
pillars and more, all of it a befitting venue for the Nawab's durbar, which was held here.
The Hazarduari was also used as a residence by the Nawabs and by high-ranking British
officials.
Much of the palace is now a museum, which contains an impressive array of memorabilia from
the days of the British Raj. The collection on the first floor and the ground floor is a
merry mishmash of artefacts, from marble statues to oil paintings, crystal chandeliers,
ivory and teak furniture, fossils, stuffed animals and other belongings dating back to the
time of the Nawabs of Murshidabad. Spread across the Dining Room, the Landscape Gallery,
the British Gallery, the Nawab Gallery, the Dewan Gallery, the Prince Gallery, the
Committee Room, the Durbar Hall and about half-a-dozen other areas, the museum's display
includes some truly interesting items, like testing plates (which are supposed to crack if
poisoned food is placed on them), a cannon used at the fateful Battle of Plassey, royal
thrones, howdahs of silver and ivory, palanquins, phaetons and even two cars, purchased
way back in 1914.
The second floor of the Hazarduari Palace houses an equally (if not more) interesting
collection of about 12,000 books and 3,000 manuscripts, in Persian, English, Arabic and
Urdu. The Nawabs may or may not have been of a literary bent of mind, but their library
certainly is well stocked. Wander through, and you'll see examples of some of India's most
priceless manuscripts, such as the original Ain-e-Akbari and the Akbarnama, written by
Akbar's court historian Abul Fazal; a copy of the Holy Koran penned by the emperor
Aurangzeb and another, weighing close to 20 kg and measuring around 4' x 3', written by
the famous Haroon-al-Rashid, the caliph of Baghdad.
Best time to go
Like the rest of West Bengal (barring the hills, of
course), Murshidabad's hot and humid through most of the year, and the monsoon rains do
little to relieve the sultriness of the place. The best time to visit is winter and
spring- between October and March- when it's fairly pleasant, and even slightly chilly at
night.
Getting there and around
Murshidabad is connected to the state capital, Kolkata,
by road. It's 211 km from Kolkata, and frequent buses ply between Kolkata and Murshidabad;
in addition to that, there are also buses to and from other major towns in West Bengal,
including Burdwan, Malda, Durgapur and Berhampore. Berhampore (12 km from Murshidabad) is
the nearest major railhead, with connecting trains to Kolkata; and Khagraghat station, on
the opposite bank of the Bhagirathi river (beside which Murshidabad is located) also
receives trains from Kolkata and other towns in the state. If you're coming from further
afield- which includes towns outside West Bengal, the Farraka station (98 km from
Murshidabad) is your best bet: it has trains linking it to cities as distant as Delhi,
Darjeeling and Guwahati.
Getting around Murshidabad, unless you're keen on using your legs, is limited to cycle
rickshaws: they're the only mode of public transport available here.
Accommodation
Murshidabad isn't really top of the charts as far
as tourism is concerned, so options for accommodation are fairly limited. There's a clutch
of hotels, middle-rung to budget, most of them in the Lalbagh area, and there's a youth
hostel, perfect for those on a shoestring budget. For a wider range of options, you could
base yourself in Berhampore, which has a much larger number of hotels and tourist lodges,
and come down to Murshidabad by bus for sightseeing.
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