House of Miriam

Geetha Pai 53 months ago

Mariam's House, or the Sunahara Makan, was a palace built by Akbar (1556-1605) between 1571- 85.
It was the residence of Akbar's mother, Miriam Makani & was originally covered with paintings & gold decorations.
So it was also called as Sunahra Makan (Golden House).
It is surrounded by a verandah on its sides & the roof has a pavilion at its northern end.

Ajay Sharma 53 months ago

This house, in the first residential court of the women's area of the palace, may be the residence of Akbar's mother or one of his principal queens. The name "House of Miriam" is, like many of the building names, fanciful; no woman of that name is known in Akbar's court.

The whole building was originally covered with fresco paintings and gilding, and was hence called the Sonahra Makân, or “Golden House.” The frescoes are supposed to illustrate Firdousi’s great epic, the Shahnama, or history of the Kings of Persia. As in the Kwâbgâh, the fragments which remain have been covered with varnish as a preservative, which has had the effect of destroying all the charm of colour they once possessed; and will eventually, when the varnish turns brown with age, obliterate them altogether. The paintings are all in the style of the Persian artists who were employed by Akbar to illustrate his books and to paint the portraits of his Court. Over the doorway in the north-west angle of the building is a painting which the guides, perhaps misled by the suggestion of some uninformed traveller, point out as “the Annunciation.”