King Kothi – When Royalty Reigns

Hyderabad totally engrosses me and I was happy that I could get to see a lot of places, so I was indeed very happy that I could visit the king Kothi Palace also. Also known as the Nazri Bagh Palace this is one of the royal and grand monuments around. It is in this place that the Seventh Noam of Hyderabad used to live. Oman Ali khan the seventh Hyderabad king ruled in this palace many years back.

This palace a mastermind of Kamal Khan was bought by the Nizam when he was totally fascinated by the construction and the architectural elegance of the entire structure. This Nizam came to this palace when he was a young lad of around 13 years old. In the year 1911, he ascended the throne and he became the ruler of the city. He continued to live here and was so fond of the palace that even when his father shifted to the Chowmohalla Palace, he did not move out of this grand monumental beauty.

Kamal Khan had built this palace to live here permanently. So the main gate of the palace and is beautiful corridors and also the doors and windows had the “K” alphabet engraved everywhere. Then the Nizam took over the palace. He saw the letter “K” all over and felt that it was quite demeaning to a person of his stature. After a great deal of thought he changed the alphabet “K” to the abbreviation “KK” which meant King Kothi. Kothi in Hindi means mansion, and so King Kothi means the king’s mansion. Thus the palace got its name and is known by that name ever since.

The entire palace is grandeur incarnate and has lot of pearls, sapphire, rubies and diamonds in the entire place and these gems were stored in huge trunks made of steel .the padlocks in the gates here were built in the English style and were totally a thing of ancient treasure.

The palace has three divisions and there are two groups in the interiors. The eastern portion of the building is used by a hospital of the state government. This was used in those days by the Nizam for ceremonies and other official purposes.

The western half of the palace is a walled structure today and has the main buildings of the residence of the Nizam. The buildings the Nazri Bagh and the Mubarak Mansion are buildings which still belong to the private property of the Nizam. The Nizam thus has his private estate here.

Then you have the main entrance and I saw that there was a curtain in it. So the locals popularly call it the Purdah gate. It is said that when the Nizam went out of the palace the purdah remained lifted to give an indication to the people that the Nizam wasn’t at home. It was the Maisaram Regiment which took care of the gate and the Sarf-e-khas too guarded it with lances in their hands.

The King Kothi complex which has three buildings is built in the European style. The third building is the Usman Mansion which was destroyed in the early half of the eighties. Today there is a new hospital there. Nizam VII was the last of the Nizam rulers. He lived here for a long time and it was here that he died in the month of February in the year 1967.

This palace was also home to the Judi Mosque. It is said that the sixth Nizam Osman Ali Khan wanted that he be buried in this mosque. It was just opposite his residence.

Then there is the Ghadial Gate or the Clock Gate which is in the eastern side of Mubarak Mansion. I was completely enthralled by the whole place and was quite intrigued to see the beautiful canopies that were found over the windows. Their beautiful patterns and the constructional elegance was quite mesmerizing and the beautifully carved woodwork here was another eye catcher. The woodwork was of a special style and this certainly was a great tourist attraction. The roofs were sloping and had an octagonal shape. They were shaped like a pyramid and the Ghadial Gate was also similarly shaped. The gate had semicircular arches were a great feature and they were the main attraction here.

Thus the state of Andhra Pradesh has a history of the best of dynasties and the most beautiful of colorful history. The richness of the history and the culture of the state is the main feature of this entire tour. The appeal of the aesthetics here and the structural elegance of the entire monument is a great attraction even more than the lineage of the Asaf Jah rulers. These rulers are the Nizams of Hyderabad. Thus the Nizam clan is responsible for this lovely grandeur in King Kothi.

Thus with the best blend of Hindu motifs and Islamic architecture and a touch of European construction, this King Kothi is certainly a tourist pleasure and is a must see in the city of Hyderabad.