Noor Mehal

The Noor Mehal is located in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. It was built in 1872 like an Italian chateau on neoclassical lines, now it is co-owned by Sajid Ali Isar And Malik Farhan. It belonged to the Nawabs of Bahawalpur princely state, during British period.Its area is  about 44,600 square feet.
Noor Mehal is considered as one of the hidden gems of Bahawalpur, due to the lack of knowing and publicity. The palace is open to public. It is currently in the possession of the Pakistan Army and is used as a state guest house for holding state durbars and meetings with foreign delegations.

Architecture.

The construction of Noor palace was undertaken by Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan, who was also known as the Shah Jahan of Bahawalpur for his passion of constructing beautiful buildings. It was build by Mr. Heennan,the state engineer of that time.The material of the palace and its furniture was imported from England and Italy.it was completed at the cost of Rs. 1.2 million of that time. It consists of 32 rooms including 14 in the basement, 6 verandas and 5 domes.
The design holds features of Corinthian and Islamic styles of architecture with a tinge of subcontinental style. The Corinthian Style is visible in the columns, balustrade, pediments and the vaulted ceiling of Durbar Hall. The Islamic style is evident in the five domes, whereas the angular elliptical shapes are a embodiment of subcontinent style. Nawab Muhammad Bahawal Khan added a mosque to the palace in 1906  at the cost of Rs. 20,000.

After Bonding with Pakistan.

In 1956, when Bahawalpur State was merged into Pakistan, the building was taken over by the Auqaf department of Pakistan. The palace was leased to the army in 1971, in 1997 the army purchased it in 119 million.
The building was named as “protected monument” in September 2001 by the Government of Pakistan's  Archeology Department, and it is now open for general visitors, students trips,tourists and other interested persons.

Things to see in Palace.

There are a lot of old things present in Mehal. It includes many used things of Nawabs. There are many old swords, old laws of their time, old  currency and coins,and old music instruments that Nawabs used to play, old furniture used by Nawabs etc. There is also a long wall in Mehal that contains imaginary pictures of Nawabs. Only one picture is real,  others are imaginary. There is also a prison cell aside it.