Falaknuma Palace
— — a mirror of the sky, in scorpion shape.
Not only on a wall.
“Built between 1884 and 1893 by Nawab Sir Vikar-ul-Umra, prime minister of the Nizam of Hyderabad. The palace sits about six hundred metres above the city on the Falaknuma hill — the name means 'mirror of the sky.' It was the official guest residence of the Nizams, then closed for decades, and now operates as a Taj hotel under a long lease.
Falaknuma Palace, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Falaknuma Palace stands on a hill 600 metres above Hyderabad, capital of the Indian state of Telangana. The architect was the English engineer William Marrett; construction ran from 1884 to 1893 for Nawab Sir Vikar-ul-Umra, prime minister of the Nizam of Hyderabad. The building is laid out in the shape of a scorpion, with two stinger-like wings extending north. After Vikar's death, the sixth Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan purchased the palace in 1897. The Taj Group restored and reopened it as a hotel in 2010 under a lease from the Nizam's family trust.
The palace mixes Italian, Tudor, and Mughal architectural elements across about 93,970 square metres of floor area. Italian marble was shipped in for the main staircases and the central courtyard, with 47 marble statues lining the grand staircase. The state dining hall holds what the hotel cites as the world's longest single dining table, seating 101 guests on a 32-metre rosewood top. The Jade Room, the Durbar Hall with its frescoed leather ceiling, and an 1893 Pleyel grand piano in the music room are among the surviving original interiors.
Falaknuma is an operating five-star hotel with about 60 rooms; general public access is not available. Hotel guests are received at the foot of the hill with a horse-drawn carriage that climbs the drive to the palace. Non-resident visitors may book afternoon high tea at the Jade Terrace, generally 16:00 to 18:00, with advance reservation. Photography inside is restricted to hotel guests. The Telangana State Archaeology Department lists the building as a protected heritage property under India's Ancient Monuments Act of 1958.