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Falaknuma Palace opens
Falaknuma Palace, near Hyderabad, India, opens as a Taj Luxury Palace September 2009, with Ranjit Phillipose - whom many remember from his last two years at Taj Boston, in the USA - as GM.
Falaknuma Palace, 30 minutes from the city, was built 1870 by Nawab Vikar-Ul-Ulmara, the Prime Minister of Hyderabad, and later bought by the Nizam, Falaknuma means 'mirror in the sky' and the Palace. It was designed by an Italian, and it took nine years to complete.
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The palace, which has 220 lavishly decorated rooms and 22 spacious halls, is laid out in the shape of a scorpion with two stings spread out as wings on the north. The middle part is occupied by the main building and the kitchen Gol Bangla, Zenana mehal and harem quarters stretch to the south. It is a rare blend of Italian and Tudor architecture and stained-glass windows throw a spectrum of colors into the rooms.
One of the highlights of the palace is the state reception room, whose ceiling is decorated with frescoes and gilded reliefs. The ballroom contains a two-ton manually operated organ said to be the only one of its kind in the world, its jade collection is deemed unique and its dining hall could seat 100 guests at the one dining table.
The Falaknuma Palace has other unique things to its credit. It includes the largest collection of Venetian chandeliers. It is said that it took six months to clean a 138-arm Osler chandelier and the palace has 40 such chandeliers adorning the halls.
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Today's interior designer is Princess Isra Jah, the Turkish-born former wife of Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Asaf Jah VIII (if you want his real name, it is His Exalted Highness Rustam-i-Dauran, Arustu-i-Zaman, Wal Mamaluk, Asaf Jah VIII, Muzaffar ul-Mamaluk, Nizam ul-Mulk, Nizam ud-Daula, Nawab Mir Barakat 'Ali Khan Bahadur, Sipah Salar, Fath Jang, Nizam of Hyderabad, who has so far had five wives: he is now a sheep farmer in Australia. There are 60 bedrooms in which to stay.
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