Wednesday, June 17, 2020

The Grand Palaces of Nawabs


On our way back from the fort, we planned to visit the Sadiqgarh Mahal, one of the many palaces of Nawabs. It’s all white with typical architectural design of nawabs. This palace is not that well maintained comparatively. There was a time when Ghilaf-e-Ka’ba was prepared there, and the old ones were displayed in the mahal; and this was an official and important mahal of Nawabs. But now there ain’t no electricity and so many parts are somewhat worn out. No maintenance is done of the outside ground either. It now looks haunted at night despite all the grandeur that’s still intact.

Sadiqgarh Palace
Next evening, we visited the other palaces of nawabs. Most famous and overrated is Noor Mahal, where I believe others are more beautiful. Actually, all of these palaces are now under the custody of military, and only Noor Mahal is open for public.
Anyway, using our army resources we easily got access to the other palaces. First we visited Darbar Mahal. You might have seen it already in the film, Punjab Nahi Jaon Gi, that was shot in this palace. It has a very traditionally contemporary design. Elegantly simple yet intricate.
Darbar Mahal



Other than the exterior and interior, what I loved the most were those small pelicans sculptured everywhere. Pelican was symbolic of nawabs for their self-sufficiency. It is said that they can die but can’t rely or depend on others.

Opposite to Darbar mahal is Nishat mahal. Not as grand but equally beautiful. It is like a big barahdari with wide baramdah and arches. Its rooms contain archives of nawabs and Pakistan military. There was a third palace in the area too, named Farrukh mahal but we didn’t visit that.

Overall, I love the lighting of the whole place; highlighting all the major architectural features of each mahal. These are now converted into offices and rest houses and otherwise a restricted area. If you can, I must suggest you all to visit them all.

Rating

Site: 9.5/10
Accessibility: 10/10
Services: 9/10
Staff: 7/10
Market: 8/10
Resourcefulness: 8/10

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