Hazarduari - Palace With 1000 Doors

Hazarduari Palace in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, is a unique building having 1000 doors, out of which 100 doors are false. Built in the nineteenth century, it was commissioned by Nawab Nazim Humayun Jah of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

The name "Hazarduari" derives from "Hazar" (meaning: One thousand) and "Duari" (meaning: the one with doors).

The palace has 114 rooms and measures 130x61 meters (about 426x200 ft.) It was designed and built under the supervision of Colonel Duncan MacLeod of the Bengal Corps of Engineers and is a good example of Indo-European architecture. The construction work was started in August 1829 and was completed in December 1837.

The front façade of the palace has a grand staircase leading to the palace's upper portico. It has 37 steps and the bottommost step is 33 metres (108 ft.) long. It is reportedly the largest one in India.

Another unique feature of the palace complex is 182 metres (600 ft) long Imambara (A Shia Muslim congregation hall) facing the Palace. The Imambara known as Nizamat Imambara, was built in 1847 at the instance of Nawab Sayyid Mansur Ali Khan. It is perhaps the longest Imambara in the World.

Image from Flickr is by jcdl.

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by Ariful Anam

Image from Flickr is by jahirul haque

The long Steps;

Image from Flickr is by styles atlife

View from Backyard;

Image Source: Google Street View (Click on image for wider view.)

Nizamat Imambara;

Image from Flickr is by Rupak Sarkar

View location in Google Maps / Google Earth

Source of information and more information:

• Hazarduari Palace Wikipedia
• 10 Interesting Facts of Hazarduari
• Nizamat Imambara Wikipedia

Credits: Umme AMJ12 for bringing it to my knowledge.