Hazarduari Palace, Murshidabad - হাজারদুয়ারী পালস
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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.
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.
Hazarduari Palace Murshidabad, the last capital city of independent Bengal, is situated on the banks of the Ganges River. The district Murshidabad got its present name in the first half 18th century and its present shape in the latter half of the 18th century. The history of the district dates back to the pre-historic period as early as c.1500 BC. The capital city of Sasanka, the king of Gouda in the 7th century AD and of Mahipala, one of the later Pala kings of Bengal, was in this district too. The city was named after the Nawab of Bengal, Murshid Quli Khan who was a Brahmin who worked in the Mughal army, till Emperor Aurangzeb made him the Nawab of Bengal in 1706 AD. He made Murshidabad the capital city of Sube Bangla, which comprised of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1705 AD.
Murshidabad has witnessed treachery and palace politics, which finally resulted in passing off of Bengal into the hands of the East India Company. Siraj-ud-Daulah was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. In 1757 AD, a conspiracy between the Company and his uncle Mir Jafar led to defeat of his forces by the Company troops in the battle of Plassey. He was later murdered in Murshidabad. Mir Jafar, who betrayed Siraj became the new puppet Nawab. The East India Company reigned from here after the battle till they shifted their capital to Calcutta.
The Hazar Dwari Palace or the Palace with Thousand Doors is probably the chief attraction of Murshidabad. Duncan McLeod of the Bengal Engineers built the palace for the Nawabs of Bengal in 1837 AD. The palace took 17 years to build, which has been converted into a museum today. It has 114 rooms and 8 galleries. The museum has various works of art including an exquisite collection of armory, splendid paintings, exhaustive portraits of the Nawabs beautiful works of ivory from Murshidabad School, China (European) and many other valuables. The Armory has 2700 arms in its collections out of which only few are displayed. Swords used by Siraj-ud-Daulah and his grandfather, Nawab Ali Wardi Khan, can be seen here. The other attractions in this floor are the Vintage cars and cars used by the Nawabs and their families.
Nawab Murshid Quli Khan built the Katra Masjid in 1724 AD. It is modeled on the lines of the Mecca mosque. It is one of the most important tourist attractions. The gorgeous building has huge domes and high minarets. The tomb of Murshid Quli Khan is also in this mosque.
The Jahankosh is a huge cannon built by Janardhan Karmakar in Decca. It is 17.5 ft long and 16,880 lbs in weight and is a major attraction for the tourists. The Nimak Haram Deorhi or the Traitor's Gate is the place where Siraj-ud-Daulah was assassinated. His grave is at Khusbagh or the Garden of Delight along with the tomb of his wife and the grave of Nawab Ali Wardi Khan. Kathgola has the ruins of the garden house of Jagat Seth, one of the co-conspirators against Siraj.
Parallel to the north face of the Hazar Dwari Palace is the Nizamat Imambara. It was built in 1847 AD by Nawab Nazim Mansoor Ali Khan Feradun Jah, son of Humayun Jah, at a cost of more than 6 lacs, after the Imambara built by Siraj-ud-Daulah had been destroyed by fire. It took only eleven months to construct this Imambara. The Imambara is the largest in Bengal and one the largest in India.
Wasef Manzil is a palace built by Sir Wasef Ali Mirza, Nawab of Murshidabad as his residence. This palace is very near to the South Gate of the Hazar Dwari Palace. The staircases made of marble and beautiful statues of this Palace are worth seeing.
The skill of gifted craftsmen can be seen at the Khagra Bazaar. But sandalwood etching has become more popular than ivory carving. Murshidabad is famous for brass and bell metal ware, for traditional Bengali muslin and silk weaves, brocades and Jamdanis. Azimganj and Khagraghat produce excellent Bengali sweets, especially 'khaja' made with lemon, sesame seeds and sugar.
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.Hazarduari Palace Murshidabad, the last capital city of independent Bengal, is situated on the banks of the Ganges River. The district Murshidabad got its present name in the first half 18th century and its present shape in the latter half of the 18th century. The history of the district dates back to the pre-historic period as early as c.1500 BC. The capital city of Sasanka, the king of Gouda in the 7th century AD and of Mahipala, one of the later Pala kings of Bengal, was in this district too. The city was named after the Nawab of Bengal, Murshid Quli Khan who was a Brahmin who worked in the Mughal army, till Emperor Aurangzeb made him the Nawab of Bengal in 1706 AD. He made Murshidabad the capital city of Sube Bangla, which comprised of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1705 AD.
Murshidabad has witnessed treachery and palace politics, which finally resulted in passing off of Bengal into the hands of the East India Company. Siraj-ud-Daulah was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. In 1757 AD, a conspiracy between the Company and his uncle Mir Jafar led to defeat of his forces by the Company troops in the battle of Plassey. He was later murdered in Murshidabad. Mir Jafar, who betrayed Siraj became the new puppet Nawab. The East India Company reigned from here after the battle till they shifted their capital to Calcutta.
The Hazar Dwari Palace or the Palace with Thousand Doors is probably the chief attraction of Murshidabad. Duncan McLeod of the Bengal Engineers built the palace for the Nawabs of Bengal in 1837 AD. The palace took 17 years to build, which has been converted into a museum today. It has 114 rooms and 8 galleries. The museum has various works of art including an exquisite collection of armory, splendid paintings, exhaustive portraits of the Nawabs beautiful works of ivory from Murshidabad School, China (European) and many other valuables. The Armory has 2700 arms in its collections out of which only few are displayed. Swords used by Siraj-ud-Daulah and his grandfather, Nawab Ali Wardi Khan, can be seen here. The other attractions in this floor are the Vintage cars and cars used by the Nawabs and their families.
Nawab Murshid Quli Khan built the Katra Masjid in 1724 AD. It is modeled on the lines of the Mecca mosque. It is one of the most important tourist attractions. The gorgeous building has huge domes and high minarets. The tomb of Murshid Quli Khan is also in this mosque.
The Jahankosh is a huge cannon built by Janardhan Karmakar in Decca. It is 17.5 ft long and 16,880 lbs in weight and is a major attraction for the tourists. The Nimak Haram Deorhi or the Traitor's Gate is the place where Siraj-ud-Daulah was assassinated. His grave is at Khusbagh or the Garden of Delight along with the tomb of his wife and the grave of Nawab Ali Wardi Khan. Kathgola has the ruins of the garden house of Jagat Seth, one of the co-conspirators against Siraj.
Parallel to the north face of the Hazar Dwari Palace is the Nizamat Imambara. It was built in 1847 AD by Nawab Nazim Mansoor Ali Khan Feradun Jah, son of Humayun Jah, at a cost of more than 6 lacs, after the Imambara built by Siraj-ud-Daulah had been destroyed by fire. It took only eleven months to construct this Imambara. The Imambara is the largest in Bengal and one the largest in India.
Wasef Manzil is a palace built by Sir Wasef Ali Mirza, Nawab of Murshidabad as his residence. This palace is very near to the South Gate of the Hazar Dwari Palace. The staircases made of marble and beautiful statues of this Palace are worth seeing.
The skill of gifted craftsmen can be seen at the Khagra Bazaar. But sandalwood etching has become more popular than ivory carving. Murshidabad is famous for brass and bell metal ware, for traditional Bengali muslin and silk weaves, brocades and Jamdanis. Azimganj and Khagraghat produce excellent Bengali sweets, especially 'khaja' made with lemon, sesame seeds and sugar.
 Photo by : Kanad Sanyal in Flickr |
 Photo by : The Ace Clicker in Flickr |
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 Photo by : sayanbiswas in webshots |
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