There is something about the quiescence and period ambience of the Chowmahalla Palace Library that is instantly charming. There are about 10,000 books and manuscripts in this admirable collection housed in old-world wooden cupboards and surrounded by carefully refurbished vintage furniture. The newly opened library is in Mahtab Mahal, one of the four palaces in the Chowmahalla complex at Khilwat in the Charminar area of Hyderabad.
Built over 200 years ago, the magnificent Chowmahalla was the seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty and the venue where the Nizams entertained royal visitors and official guests. An amalgam of architectural styles and influences, the palace complex was carefully restored and opened to the public about eight years ago. The heritage building is now also available for private and corporate events.
The library is the latest attraction, rich with timeworn tomes sourced from the Asaf Jahi palaces in the city, including the Chiraan Palace, Nazri Bagh and, of course, Chowmahalla itself.
The Nizams loved literature and some of them were poets in their own right, including the first two Nizams, Mir Qamaruddin Khan and Mir Nizam Ali Khan, and the last two, Mir Mahbub Ali Khan and Mir Osman Ali Khan.
The books are in Urdu, Arabic, Persian and English. Some of them are nearly three centuries old. Besides works of history, geography, art and culture, poetry, Islamic law, medicine and philosophy, the repository has biographies, encyclopaedias and dictionaries.
An exquisite collection of rare Quran editions in calligraphy includes several that were received as birthday gifts by the seventh Nizam.
Of the nearly 300 Qurans in this library, 28 are being painstakingly restored for display in a special section.
There are priceless editions of the Quran in handmade paper, the text handwritten and embellished with gold, gems and pearls. Pointing to the richly-hued pages of one book, a member of the restoration team explains that the gold, red, blue and white colours come respectively from powders of gold, cinnebar, lapis lazuli and pearl.
Many of the English books are first editions from the UK. The bilingual dictionaries in the collection include English-Urdu, Persian-English and Persian-Urdu.
Vintage volumes such as Princes and Chiefs of India, View of Hindoostan, a set of Chambers Encyclopaedias, Glimpses of India, and Delhi Durbar are on view. A lot of hard work has gone into creating this library as many of the books were in a state of neglect, attacked by termites and wood-louse. The restorers did battle with missing pages and jackets, damaged pages and faded lettering. Mahtab Mahal itself needed some sprucing-up.
“The whole process took over six months… We have ensured attention to detail in the restoration and conservation of the books, and the setting up of the library,” says G. Kishan Rao, Director, Chowmahalla Palace. “This was all made possible by Princess Esra’s [Birgin] strong commitment and invaluable encouragement. We also used expert advice from academicians and professionals.”
The books were cleaned in a fumigation chamber and sent for binding — all the restoration work was done in-house.
The cataloguing was another time-consuming effort. “The books have been catalogued according to the US Library of Congress, which is a unique world resource,” says Rao.
Besides tourists and curious onlookers, the library with its rich and valuable trove is soon expected to attract bibliophiles, students and research scholars.
You may borrow a book to read on the premises, seated on the antique (renovated) furniture.
A Rs 100 fee is charged for use of the library, inclusive of the palace entry charge. Virtual visitors can go to www.chowmahalla.com .
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Weekend Life / by Aruna Chandarajan