While authorities claim that the Falaknuma Palace has been painstakingly restored to its original glory after being transformed into a hotel, old timers who have observed the palace from close quarters, point out that some royal art, artefacts, marble statues and precious articles that once adorned the palace walls and rooms are missing.
primary among the missing objects is a translucent marble statue of a little boy in tears. The statue was a masterpiece and once adorned the unique 101-seat dining room in the palace, the longest dining hall in the world. “I have observed the statue a number of times in the old palace. I remember the boy was holding a bird, and perhaps mourning over its loss. The highlight was the tear drop which was so beautifully sculpted in specially selected translucent marble from Rome. It is equal in art value to that of the veiled Rebecca in Salarjung Museum. I have closely observed the restored palace during a party hosted by the hotel last week but could not find the marble statue,” a senior city historian with close contacts to the royal family told this correspondent.
Another object now not seen in the Palace premises is a simple, yet historic, weathercock which had been indicating the wind direction ever since the palace was constructed about 120 years ago. The Asaf Jahi flag used to flutter atop the pole fitted with the weathercock in front of the main palace. According to sources, the weathercock was removed after the pole had rusted for want of maintenance.
The Taj Group of Hotels, which now maintains the Palace, has clarified that it has not moved out any art or artefact after the Palace was handed over to them. “Since Taj has taken over the palace, we have not moved out any art or artefact. We have in fact, carefully and painstakingly restored all that was there in the palace. As for the particular statue (of the weeping boy), we have not seen it in the palace since we have come here,” a Taj spokesman says.
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