Qasr Al Hosn: Through a tourist’s perspective

Abu Dhabi takes its high rises quite seriously. I am waiting for my guide Georgette who has gone to arrange my tickets and secure my entry to Qasr Al Hosn — the oldest stone building in the city of Abu Dhabi. I stand on one of the broad pavements adjacent to this national monument. A huddle of skyscrapers surrounds me. I crane my neck up trying to count the number of floors, a seemingly impossible task. An unfamiliar booming noise sends me limping a few feet away for cover. My ears ring and in a few seconds I conjure up horrible thoughts of never seeing my loved ones again. A cannon has been fired.

Georgette rushes back. Her smile disorients me. Have I just been imagining things? No. A cannon has been fired, but it has got nothing to do with violence or aggression. In Abu Dhabi, firing of cannons signify the time to break the Ramadan fast. Today being the first day of Ramadan, the celebrations are going to be gala.

Year by year as the Ramadan season moves closer to the tourist season (November-March) of Abu Dhabi, the city has trained itself to work while fasting. Work-life here goes on with slower pace and lower working hours. Not being an exception, Qasr Al Hosn is also running with limited manpower just like Wahat Al Karama, the place that I visited before arriving here.

Qasr Al Hosn’s history

Abu Dhabi was a desolate island until one section of the desert dwelling Bani Yas tribe migrated to Abu Dhabi seeking freshwater. Qasr Al Hosn was built in 1761, as a watchtower to protect the newly found freshwater well. A fort was soon erected, followed by residential quarters for the ruling sheikh and his family. Generations of the ruling dynasty— the Al Nahyans— were brought up at Qasr Al Hosn for a long time.

The gallery

I enter through the sand-tinged outer walls into the courtyard. Inside, surrounded by white walls, I feel calm. In a corner, from a bed of tall grasses, emerge three date palm trees. Farther, I move into an exhibit room that highlights several valuable material possessions of the Bani Yas tribe, including a 450 year old Ottoman map by a Venetian cartographer which marks the tribe’s whereabouts during that period.

Put on display are letters written in Arabic, jewelleries, clothing of the rulers and their personal accessories. A replica of the sheikh’s original silver, ivory and mother-of-pearl inlaid ceremonial dagger or khanjar sits side by side with his fine wool shal or head-cover that was a gift from the ruler of Bahrain. For the most part, the museum focuses on the erstwhile humble lifestyle of the rulers by pinpointing the simplicities in their possessions. The Grundig radio that was used by Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan to connect with the outside world is one of the popular displays.

I exit the exhibit room and move to the most intimate part of Qasr Al Hosn—the living quarters of the family. In a huge courtyard, occasionally hemmed by date palms, colonnades line the three sides. Behind arched balconies of the second-storey, modern Abu Dhabi peeks-in with its taller and sturdier properties.

In the living quarters

The rooms have been renovated for maintenance purposes, but the charm of the past has been kept intact. The furnishing is Spartan at best. Inside many of the rooms, I find the majlis or the typical Arabian guest hosting area with floor seating. A frugal floor sofa stacked with three cushions with floral embroidery inhabits one such majlis. At the centre of a carpet made of palm fronds is a replica of a hearth. On the edge of it are some ceramic coffee cups and plates with a metal dallah or traditional Arabian coffee pot. Smaller dallahs and miniature earthen vessels adorn the niches.

From the pillars of the colonnade, bricks and mortar stare out. To recreate the past they have been left bare on purpose during renovation. The palace was built in stages. While most of it is brick structure, some parts are just coral.

Lanterns hang at consistent intervals from above the floor-hugging windows, a remarkable feature of the vernacular architecture here. In the bedroom is a twin size modest poster bed, three aluminium trunks, two dallahs and an ordinary carpet. Georgette informs me that most of the furniture that occupied these rooms moved out along with the royal family, so only a few are left by.

Crafts of UAE

We go into the final part of the monument—The House of Artisans—a space to educate people about the handicrafts of Abu Dhabi. This section, though a part of Qasr Al Hosn, has been ambitiously redesigned to fit the modern sophisticated taste.

The artisans who introduce visitors with the displays are away to break their Ramadan fast, having food and water after a gap of around 12 hours! Aided by Georgette and the information tablets on the wall, I understand the three main crafts of the country—Al Sadu, Talli and Khoos.

Al Sadu is an ancient tribal art of weaving fabric from camel, goat and sheep wool using a palm or jujube wood tool similar to our looms, only here it is known as Al Sadu. It involves dusting the wool, sorting by colour and length, cleaning in warm and cold soapy water, drying and spinning using a spindle. The yarn is then dyed and weaved into patterns that derive inspiration from traditional Bedouin lifestyle, Islam and the desert. Shapes and patterns of sand-dunes, camels, falcons, palm trees, grasslands, mosques, Quranic verses are most commonly found. When the Bedouins were nomads, these fabrics served as their tents.

Among the others, I learn about Talli, a silk embroidery art valued by the Emirati women (which I would later realise) and Khoos or palm leaves weaving, an art involving cleaning, cutting, drying, dyeing, weaving and braiding of the palm leaves to make things of utility.

My tour of the Qasr Al Hosn ends here, but my quest to know more about early Bedouin life has just started.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Qasr Al Hosn tickets – 30 AED (approximately INR 600)

Timing – 10AM – 7PM (Saturday – Thursday); 2PM – 7PM (Friday)

To watch my Abu Dhabi video on Youtube, please click here.

Have you been to Qasr Al Hosn? Are you planning a trip there? Well, now you know what to look out for while visiting. Comment below and let’s talk!

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Disclaimer: Tania was hosted by Abu Dhabi Tourism Board. All thoughts and opinions expressed in the post are of her own.

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