Chowmahalla Palace to house royal library, THE TIMES OF INDIA
TNN Jun 28, 2012, THE TIMES OF INDIA
Extract:
HYDERABAD: There is hectic activity going on at the Mahtab Mahal of Chowmahalla Palace. Inside the freshly painted gigantic mahal, staffers are busy unloading an array of timeworn books from the huge wooden trunks of the Asaf Jahi period. These books, neglected for over four decades, were recently shifted from the Nazri Bagh and Chiran Palace to Chowmahalla, their new home. Palace officials said that in about two months Mahtab Mahal will transform into a library with a rare and valuable collection of books belonging to the Asaf Jahi Nizams who loved literature and were poets themselves. They said that research scholars will now be able to turn the pages of history, literally.
It had a dining hall, living room, an English and Indian darbar apart from a bedroom. "The mahal has been converted into a library. This royal library is coming up in the palace with rare books dating back to the 16th century. A web directory is also being created," said G Kishan Rao, director, Chowmahalla Palace. Research scholars can make use of the facility, he added...
...While there was a large collection of books at Falaknuma Palace as well, it has been converted into the Palace Library, a replica of the one at Windsor Castle, on the same premises.
Even this library at Falaknuma Palace is home to the rarest of manuscripts, books and one of the most acclaimed collections of the Quran in the country, all of which were selected by the Nizam himself.
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