Billionaire Nizam's Playground Hyderabad

Luxury abounds in Southern India.

- Belinda Luksic

Watch any Bollywood film, and there’s a good chance it was filmed in Hyderabad. India’s seventh largest city is a sprawling metropolis in the south, with a booming movie industry named Tollywood, and a high-tech industry worth billions. Yet, in the palaces and pleasure gardens, mosques and souks of the old quarter, it is easy to be drawn in by the past.

The previous afternoon, I swapped the snarling traffic of the city for the serene hilltop beauty of Falaknuma Palace, a former Nizam residence turned Taj hotel in 2010. In the fragrant palace gardens resplendent with peacocks, I sipped champagne, while a horsedrawn carriage stood by to escort me to the palace entrance. Later, I soaked in a rose petal bath, and saw the words “Marry Me” spelt out in blossoms on the palace grounds (she said yes).

Today, I’m at another royal palace: Chowmahalla. Less than a hundred years ago, this was the seat of power of India’s most powerful ruling dynasty, the Nizam. Like Falaknuma, it has been restored to its former glory. It now operates as a museum filled with artefacts, memorabilia, tapestries, art, and vintage cars, including a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost in the garage. While only 12 of the original 47-hectares remain, its grandeur lives on in the Mughal domes, scalloped arches, and extravagant marble coronation room – the Durbar Hall – replete with 19 sparkling Belgian chandeliers.

Under the Nizam, who governed Hyderabad from 1720 to 1948, until it was annexed by India, this was the greatest and richest of all the Indian Princely States held by the British Raj. Smaller Rajput cities like Rajasthan might capture the imagination of travellers today, but it was Hyderabad that outshone them all.