Hazarduari Palace

Hazarduari Palace stands in the Lalbagh area of Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, on the east bank of the Bhagirathi River. Built in 1837 by the architect Duncan Macleod of the Bengal Engineers for the Nawab Nazim Humayun Jah, it is a large neoclassical building with a long Doric-columned facade, and its name means 'thousand doors', since it has 1,000 doors, of which 900 are real and 100 are false, a security feature intended to confuse intruders. The palace now operates as a museum under the Archaeological Survey of India. Visitors walk through galleries displaying a large armoury of swords, guns and cannon balls, paintings and portraits of nawabs and British officials, furniture, porcelain, chandeliers, manuscripts and a durbar hall with a magnificent chandelier. Photography inside is restricted. The grounds include a large lawn facing the river, the nearby Imambara, one of the largest in Bengal, the clock tower and a mosque. A visit to the palace takes about two hours, and the wider Murshidabad circuit with Katra Mosque, Nashipur Rajbari and the Nawab's tombs can fill a full day. The palace is open from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM and closed on Fridays. Admission is approximately INR 5 for Indian nationals and about INR 100 for foreign visitors, and children are free. Winter from November to February is the best season, as summers are hot. Weekdays are quiet and weekends bring local tour groups. Trains reach Berhampore Court or Murshidabad stations and local transport covers the last stretch. Visitors may hire a rickshaw or auto-rickshaw for the day.