Purani Haveli: Hyderabad Travel Guide (4.4★)

A palace the tour buses drive past

Most visitors to Hyderabad’s Old City never find this place. They photograph Charminar, bargain for bangles in Laad Bazaar and leave, without knowing a Nizam’s palace sits a short walk away behind a gate in Pathar Gatti.

Purani Haveli means “old mansion”. The name fits. Asaf Jah II built it in the late 18th and early 19th century for his son, Sikandar Jah, and later Nizams used it as an official residence. Its European-style facades are not what you expect in a district of Mughal arches and stepped minarets.

The long U and what fills it

The palace is laid out as a U. Two wings reach forward from a main block, and a long two-storey range runs along one side. You walk the length of it in a slow line, looking through doorways into rooms that were built for a court, not a crowd.

Part of the complex now holds a school, so expect children and uniforms around the grounds on term days. The museum occupies the rooms set aside for the Nizam’s belongings. Keep to the marked visitor route.

Inside the Nizam’s Museum

This is a small museum, and a specific one. Most of the collection comes from the Silver Jubilee of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh and last Nizam, in 1936. Dignitaries and citizens sent him gifts, and many of them are here.

Look for these:

• The gold tiffin box, a jewelled lunch carrier that shows how far the Nizam’s wealth went.
• The silver models, including a miniature of the Jubilee Pavilion, the building where the jubilee was celebrated.
• Engraved caskets and citations presented by the city’s communities.
• The wardrobe of Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam. It is a hand-cranked, two-level walk-in wooden wardrobe running the length of a wing, often described as the longest in the world.

The wardrobe is the reason many people come. Standing at one end and looking down the rows of cabinets tells you more about a royal household than any wall text can.

Getting in without getting lost

Opening days catch people out. The museum opens 10am to 5pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. It is closed on Friday and Sunday. Several other Old City sights also shut on Fridays, so check each one if you are building a day around the district.

Tickets are sold at the counter by the entrance, and the current price is posted there. Photography rules are posted at the counter too. Ask before you raise a phone, because museums of this kind often restrict cameras in the galleries.

Allow 45 minutes to an hour for the museum, and a little longer if you want to walk the grounds. Arriving in the morning gives you time to go on to Charminar before the afternoon traffic builds.

How the Old City approach works

The lanes around Pathar Gatti are narrow and busy, and the palace gate is easy to miss. Most visitors come by autorickshaw or through Uber, Ola or Rapido. Type “Purani Haveli” or “Nizam’s Museum” into the app rather than the full postal address.

If you flag an auto on the street, agree the fare before you get in or ask for the meter. From Charminar, walking is realistic. Walk along the busy streets of Pathar Gatti and ask a shopkeeper for “Purani Haveli” when you get close; most will point you straight to it.

Dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered. The palace is a museum, but the neighbourhood around it is a working, conservative part of the city. The school on the grounds is another reason to keep your voice down between the wings.

Pairing it with the rest of the Old City

Purani Haveli fits neatly into a half-day loop. These are all within a short ride:

• Charminar, the 1591 monument at the centre of the Old City, about a kilometre away.
• Laad Bazaar, the lane of lacquer bangle shops running west from Charminar.
• Chowmahalla Palace, the Nizams’ ceremonial seat, a grander contrast to this quieter residence.
• Salar Jung Museum, across the Musi River, for a much larger collection.

A good order is Purani Haveli first, then Charminar and Laad Bazaar, then lunch nearby. Save Salar Jung for a different day if you can. After the jubilee rooms here, a museum of its size is a lot to take in on the same afternoon.