Spent the thirty seventh wedding anniversary on 28th February,2016, in the city of Nizam and in the Nizam's palace at Falaknuma. The falakhnuma palace, originally belonged to the Paigah family, and was later owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is on a hillock and covers a 13-hectare (32-acre) area in Falaknuma, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Charminar. It was built by Nawab Sir Viqar-ul-Umra, Prime Minister of Hyderabad and the uncle & brother-in-law of the sixth Nizam. Falak-numa means "Like the Sky" or "Mirror of Sky" in Urdu. An English architect William Ward Marret designed the palace. Sir Vicar's monogram "VO" is on the furniture, walls and ceiling of the palace. It is made completely with Italian marble with stained-glass windows. One of the highlights of the palace is the state reception room, where the ceiling is decorated with frescoes. The ball room contains a two-ton manually operated organ said to be the only one of its kind in the world. The palace has 60 rooms and 22 halls. It has considerable collections of the Nizams artifacts including paintings, statues, furniture, manuscripts, books, an extensive Jade collection, and Venetian chandeliers. It has a library with a carved walnut roof, a replica of the one at Windsor Castle. The library houses more than five thousand books. It has an extensive collection of English, Urdu and Persian books as well as copies of the Quran and rare 1st Editions. The dining hall can seat 101 guests. The chairs are made of carved rosewood with green leather upholstery. Burroughs and Watts from England designed two identical billiards tables, one of which is in Buckingham Palace and the other in the palace's billiards room. The palace was the private property of the Nizam family, and not normally open to the public, until 2000. The hotel now has a dinning of only 35 guests, and we have to book in advance. After the lunch they take you around and explain the history of the palace. The food served was out of the world and had recipes from the times of the Nizam and not generally available in the market.
A wonderful way to celebrate the 37th wedding anniversary. . I still cannot believe so many years have gone by as we stood together with each other, being the pillar of strength for the other.
