Mohatta Palace is a museum in Karachi, Sindh of Pakistan. Constructed by Agha Ahmed Hussain, the palace was built in 1927 as the summer home of Shivratan Mohatta, a Hindu Marwari businessman from the modern-day Indian state of Rajasthan in the posh seaside area of Clifton.
Shivratan Chandraratan Mohatta was a businessman of Hindu Marwari who established his history in Rajasthan. His documented ancestry begins with Motilal Mohata, who moved from Bikaner to Hyderabad in 1842 to become a shop clerk. His four children emigrated to Calcutta and became leading imported cloth merchants. Govardhan Mohta, one of them, migrated to Karachi in 1883. Ramgopal, his older son, became a philosopher and author. The younger son of Govardhan Mohta became an industrialist in Karachi and made his fortune from olive palm soap production. The Hindu Gymkhana building of Karachi, officially known as the Seth Ramgopal Goverdhandas Mohatta Hindu Gymkhana, was named after this son. Shivrattan.
Mohatta Palace is a complex structure with complex features present in almost every section of this magnificent building. These are in the form of cravings. In the expansive windows, placed on the top right and left corners of the arches, the delicate designs include bird’s wings. Peacock motifs are also used in the stonework, and they are found around each of the nine domes. There are also several floral motifs around the surrounding wall between each scallop, such as marigolds. Under all the windows on the side doorways side, hibiscus flowers are finely carved between rectangular shapes. Similarly, on the arches’ upper right and left, each window and doorway is framed by two broad, carved marigolds. In contrast, there are decorative brackets that project ‘chhajja,’ entrance ways, domes all around the house, making it look more delicate to one’s eye under each window. Also, motifs and flowers are placed horizontally between rooms in each of the columns around the house.
Designed in the late 1920s, Mohatta Palace was a small home. The palace covers an area of 18,500 sq ft (1,720 m2). Windows, stone brackets, spandrel surfaces, domes, railings with floral designs are decorated on the front. There are nine domes with a central square in the center, while the windows opening out into the garden in the front portion are blue, and those which are opening in the back area are angled with sculptures. There are three floors in the palace first floor, ground floor, and basement. The palace has large serene rooms on the ground floor for entertainment and more private rooms on the primary floor, where there is a colored terrace filled with intense sunlight. The basement on the north side of the building is tiny and consists of a staircase going down to a pool with an attached changing room. The palace is made entirely of teak wood with a polished staircase, long corridors, and doors opening inside the gates. There is a vast square hall leading into the corridor with seven openings. The gallery serves as a date, and the passages are linked to the rooms around it where various events are conducted. There are octagon towers on every corner of the palace in which there are only two spiral staircases near the front entrance that go up to the roof. There’s also an entertaining hall opposite the door at the far end, with a few stairs on either side leading right into the grounds at the back of the palace. In contrast to the ground floor, the first floor has private facilities. Although the middle of this floor also has a vast hall with ten doors opening into the corridor with two sides (north and south) and private rooms on the other side (east and west). Four big bedrooms with attached bathrooms and dressing rooms are open. There are two openings in each bedroom, something like “doors opening into doors.” On this point, the south staircase ends, leaving a passageway to the left that connects to the octagonal staircase of the tower that leads up to the top. At the opposite end, there is a similar staircase that leads up to the roof. At the same time, the two remaining towers remain disconnected from each other. Similarly, there are windows on the ground floor placed right above the ones offering a view of the vamanynds below. The expansive terrace on the first floor, which overlooks the Arabian Sea, also has three openings. The rooftop, which provides an overview of the surrounding area and the stunning landscaping below, is an impressive part of the building. Umbrellas top the four towers of the octagon. There are nine domes total, with a central dome in the center and four smaller domes. This is slightly elevated and.’ is like a space with a rooftop view. The north and south sides have stairs, and the five domes are interconnected.
The Government of Pakistan acquired the building to house the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1947 after Mohatta’s departure to India. Fatima Jinnah, the sister of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, moved into it in 1964. In the 1960s, Qasr-e-Fatima was renamed Mohatta Palace, becoming the hub of her presidential election campaign against President Ayub Khan. Her sister Shireen Jinnah moved in to occupy the ground floor for several years after her untimely death. The palace was closed upon her death in 1980.
The Government of Sindh earned it in 1995 to transform into a museum devoted to Pakistan’s arts. It created a trust to manage the property and ensure that it would not be sold or used for commercial or any other purpose. The trustees continuously raise funds for the purchase of collections and the creation of an extension through:
● private and public funds.
● Gifts
● Fundraising activities
● Donations
The Museum of Mohatta Palace opened formally in 1999. A small set of foreign statues are laid next to the main house, which once stood proudly at Karachi’s public locations but flared during the political crisis in 1960-61. The conflict broke some statues, especially those of Queen Victoria and Raj soldiers.
Timings:
● Tuesday till Sunday 11.00 am to 6.00 pm.
● Friday Prayer break between 1.00 pm – 3.00 pm
● Monday closed
Transport:
The following public transport is available to the museum.
● Bus: No 20
● Minibus: N and W30
● Coaches: Super Hasan Zai and Khan Coach.