February 2006
Royal diamonds at Nizam exhibition
Hyderabad:
The spectacular exhibition of the jewels of Nizam, the
erstwhile ruler of Hyderabad, is fascinating a huge number
of visitors from across the country and abroad, eager to get
a peek at what is believed to be one of the largest and richest
collection of jewels in the world. The magnificent royal jewels
ranging from 18th century to the early 20th century were once
housed in the opulent palace of the last Nizam of the princely
Muslim State, before its accession to India. From necklaces
dripping with emeralds and pearls, turban ornaments to scabbards
studded with precious stones, all these feature as a part
of the rare collection, said to be worth over two billion
rupees (over 90milllion dollars), being held in Hyderabad.
The dazzling exhibit of the 173 -piece collection on display
in Hyderabad's famous Salar Jung Museum opened in January
and is scheduled to close by the end of February. The fantastic
display of rare gems and jewellery was last exhibited in Hyderabad
four years earlier. A.N.Reddy. Director In-charge, Salar Jung
Museum said that the response so far has been fantastic. "Till
today almost 60,000 visitors have seen the jewellery and almost
600 foreign visitors. So, comparative to last time, when we
displayed in 2001 almost it is parallel with last year's response
which I feel a good response, what we expected," he said.
Amidst tight security
of armed security personnel, visitors move around the museum
viewing the breathtakingly beautiful array of jewellery encased
in glass enclosures for all to see. The cynosure of the collection,
the Jacob diamond, said to be ninth largest in the world,
was acquired by the sixth Nizam who developed an aversion
to wearing jewels after this purchase. The seventh and last
Nizam of Hyderabad found the duck-egg-sized diamond hidden
in his father's slippers and used it as a paperweight. The
184.75-carat diamond is said to be worth rupees four billion,
is about twice the size of the world famous Kohinoor diamond
and was named after Alexander Jacob, the Nizam's mysterious
confidante immortalised by Rudyard Kipling, the poet, in the
book Kim as Lurgan Sahib, a British agent. Sourabh Kishore,
a visitor from New Delhi awed by the collection said the exhibition
was something not to be missed. "This is a fabulous collection
of jewels. Nobody could imagine that before coming to this
place. It is just tremendous. I just came here on a one-day
trip but I wanted to make sure that I get to see Nizam's collection
of jewels," said Saurabh. A stunning belt encrusted with over
245 diamonds, weighing more than 640 carats is also part of
the display. Another highlight of the treasure is a ring made
of Alexandrite, one of the world's rarest gems, that changes
colour from emerald green in natural light to a brownish red
in artificial light. The display also has a collection of
elaborate "sarpechs"(or, turban ornaments), worn by Indian
princes as a mark of high distinction.
The real jewel
in the crown is a delicate paisley-shaped sarpech encrusted
with large Colombian emeralds set amidst a virtual garden
of diamonds. The weight of the sarpech's six emeralds drops
alone is estimated at over 300 carats. The glittering array
is still an enduring reflection of the extravagance and opulence
of Indian royal Maharajahs who loved to show off their fabulous
jewels. The treasure trove, includes a seven-stringed pearl
necklace with more than 370 stones. Legend has it that the
earlier Nizams had the habit of adorning their slaves with
such necklaces so that their body's oil would provide the
pearls an extra shine. In 1995, after a long legal battle,
the government bought the collection for 2.18 billion rupees
(over 90 million dollars).
-Feb 3, 2006
Previous
File TOP Current
File
