 A
mishmash of architectural styles, the Mysore Palace resembles,
in roughly equal proportions, everything from a medieval Mughal
mausoleum to an opulent French chateau- and almost any form
of magnificent building in between. Uninhibited grandeur is
the buzzword here- and it has to be seen to be believed. The
site where today's Mysore Palace stands was once the site for
an earlier wooden palace, which burnt down in a fire during
1897. For those with a penchant for the sumptuous, this proved
to be a stroke of luck- for the building that was constructed
in its stead was one which goes the whole hog when it comes
to sheer splendour.
Once the residence of the former Wodeyar kings of Mysore, the
palace was designed by the British architect Henry Irwin (who
was also the brain behind Shimla's Viceregal Lodge). The building
combines a range of architectural styles- Dravidian, Indo-Saracenic,
Roman and Oriental. Towering columns, bulbous red domes, glistening
marble floors, carved mahogany ceilings, ornate arches, stained
glass and massive doors inlaid with ivory are all part of the
show- and as much as the building itself, the regalia it houses
is worth a tour.
Spread across the palace are a series of galleries which contain
a vast and impressive array of memorabilia- from huge paintings
to imposing sculptures, weaponry to old costumes and jewellery.
Amongst the must-sees are a bejeweled golden throne and a really
quirky howdah equipped with red and green lights to enable the
Maharaja to instruct the mahout to 'stop' or 'go' ! On Sundays,
government holidays and festivals, the entire palace is illuminated
with all of 50,000 light bulbs- a spectacle which is truly magnificent.
The Mysore Palace is open to visitors from 6 am to 9 am and
from 3.30 pm to 6.30 pm daily. Entrance fees to the palace are
Rs10 per person.
Best Season: October to March.
Best Places: Naubat Khana, Diwan-e-Khas,Rang
Mahal, Meena Bazaar.
Reach -
By Air:The nearest airport is at
Bangalore (139 km from Mysore), which is well connected to airports
across India.
By Rail: Mysore has good rail
connections to the rest of Karnataka, and there are weekly connections
to Chennai and Mumbai as well.
By Road: Mysore has good road connections
to the rest of Karnataka, and there are weekly connections to
Chennai and Mumbai as well.
Sheesh Mahal - Patiala
 Known
as the 'City of Gardens and Palaces', Patiala doesn't quite
make it to the top of Punjab's high-profile tourist destinations,
but it's worth a visit nevertheless- if only to have a look
at the sumptuous Sheesh Mahal in the Qila Mubarak. A telling
tribute to the days of the flamboyant Maharajas of Patiala,
the Sheesh Mahal is part of the Qila Mubarak. The then Maharaja
of Patiala, Narendra Singh, built the Sheesh Mahal (in Patiala's
Old Moti Bagh) in 1847, and his much-admired aesthetic sense
governed the design and decoration of this stunning palace to
a substantial extent.
Maharaja Narendra Singh was widely acknowledged as a patron
of the arts, and the Sheesh Mahal is definitely a tribute to
his taste. It's a sprawling three-storied building, part-European
and part-Mughal in appearance, set amidst landscaped gardens
supposedly modeled on Lahore's Shalimar Bagh. Fountains, terraces
and an artificial lake (near which is the Banasar Ghar, a repository
for stuffed animals), verdant lawns and flowerbeds form the
backdrop for the Mahal, with its two watchtowers at either end
and a suspension bridge, modeled after the Laxman Jhoola at
Rishikesh.
The Sheesh Mahal is decorated throughout with everything from
murals and exquisite mirror-work to lovely floral designs on
the walls which are reminiscent of Mughal pietra dura. Most
of the murals at the Sheesh Mahal portray themes from mythology
and religion, along with depictions of some of northern India's
best classical poetry, especially that of masters such as Surdas,
Keshav Das and Bihari Lal. The decoration of the Sheesh Mahal
was entrusted to an army of skilled artisans from both Rajasthan
and Kangra, and the typical art styles of both regions are apparent
in the exquisite work on display. Amongst the Sheesh Mahal's
most highly recommended displays is a series of Kangra-style
miniatures depicting the Geet Govind, the epic poem by Jaidev.
Other than that, an entire section of the palace- the section,
in fact, from which the Sheesh Mahal draws its name- is decorated
with exquisitely designed glass and mirrorwork.
What is perhaps the Sheesh Mahal's greatest draw is its excellent
museum, a fine collection of antiques which give you a fabulous
insight into the life and Times of Maharajas of Patiala. The
vast range of artifacts on display run the gamut from costumes
and jewellery to portraits, Chinese mirrors, statues, engravings,
utensils, weaponry and more. Besides artifacts pertaining to
Patiala itself, there are objets d'art from the rest of India
as well. Foremost among the galleries of the museum is the Medal
Gallery, an awesome collection of more than 3,000 medals and
coins from across the world, dating from the 12th to the 20th
centuries.
Best Season: November to March.
Reach -
By Air: Patiala has a domestic
airport with frequent flights to and from Delhi, Chandigarh
and Amritsar, all three of which have excellent connections
to the rest of the country.
By Rail: Patiala does not lie
on the main line (which covers Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar,
Ferozepur and Jalandhar), you can take a train from just a vast
range of cities in northern India- and further afield- to any
of the main line stations and then take a connecting bus or
train to Patiala.
By Road: Patiala lies on Punjab's
main highway network and is linked by an ordinary and deluxe
bus service to Delhi and to Punjab's main cities, including
Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.
Hazaarduari - Murshidabad
 Most
of India's best-known palaces are named after the cities or
towns where they stand. This one's a different one: Murshidabad's
Hazarduari Palace, named after the number of doors it has. Which,
considering the fact that it's called `Hazarduari', should strictly
speaking be thousand (`hazar' being thousand, and `duar' being
door), but is actually just nine thousand. Which, incidentally,
is not the only reason to visit this stunning palace- you can,
if you wish, spend your entire day counting each door, but do
set aside a few hours to admire the amazing museum that is a
part of the palace.
The Hazarduari Palace in Murshidabad (West Bengal) was designed
in 1837 by General Duncan McLeod of the Bengal Engineers for
Murshidabad's Nawab Najim Humayun Jah. An imposing three-storied
rectangular building, it lies amidst sprawling gardens (covering
a total of 41 acres) and is a fairly unblemished example of
Italian-style architecture. The palace consists of 8 galleries
and 114 rooms, with a colonnaded façade, a domed tower, high
windows, beautifully ornate pillars and more, all of it a befitting
venue for the Nawab's durbar, which was held here. The Hazarduari
was also used as a residence by the Nawabs and by high-ranking
British officials.
Much of the palace is now a museum, which contains an impressive
array of memorabilia from the days of the British Raj. The collection
on the first floor and the ground floor is a merry mishmash
of artefacts, from marble statues to oil paintings, crystal
chandeliers, ivory and teak furniture, fossils, stuffed animals
and other belongings dating back to the Time of the Nawabs of
Murshidabad. Spread across the Dining Room, the Landscape Gallery,
the British Gallery, the Nawab Gallery, the Dewan Gallery, the
Prince Gallery, the Committee Room, the Durbar Hall and about
half-a-dozen other areas, the museum's display includes some
truly interesting items, like testing plates (which are supposed
to crack if poisoned Time is placed on them), a cannon used
at the fateful Battle of Plassey, royal thrones, howdahs of
silver and ivory, palanquins, phaetons and even two cars, purchased
way back in 1914.
The second floor of the Hazarduari Palace houses an equally
(if not more) interesting collection of about 12,000 books and
3,000 manuscripts, in Persian, English, Arabic and Urdu. The
Nawabs may or may not have been of a literary bent of mind,
but their library certainly is well stocked. Wander through,
and you'll see examples of some of India's most priceless manuscripts,
such as the original Ain-e-Akbari and the Akbarnama, written
by Akbar's court historian Abul Fazal; a copy of the Holy Koran
penned by the emperor Aurangzeb and another, weighing close
to 20 kg and measuring around 4' x 3', written by the famous
Haroon-al-Rashid, the caliph of Baghdad.
Best Season: October to March.
Reach -
By Rail: Berhampore (12 km from
Murshidabad) is the nearest major railhead, with connecting
trains to Kolkata; and Khagraghat station, on the opposite bank
of the Bhagirathi river (beside which Murshidabad is located)
also receives trains from Kolkata and other towns in the state.
By Road: Murshidabad is connected
to the state capital, Kolkata, by road. It's 211 km from Kolkata,
and frequent buses ply between Kolkata and Murshidabad; in addition
to that, there are also buses to and from other major towns
in West Bengal, including Burdwan, Malda, Durgapur and Berhampore.
Mattancherry Palace - Kochi
 One
of Kerala's largest cities, Cochin (Kochi) was long dominated
by its imperial overlords, and they've left signs of it all
across the town- such as the splendid Mattancherry Palace. Although
not an opulent building by any stretch of imagination, the Mattancherry
Palace has a quaint charm all its own- and surprisingly enough
for those who may not be too familiar with the colonial history
of this part of India, it is (at least in part) to be credited
to the Dutch.
The Dutch, incidentally, were not the original builders of
the Mattancherry Palace; the building was constructed well before
they even thought of adding Cochin to their colonial possessions.
The Portuguese had initially built the Mattancherry Palace
in 1557 and had gifted it to the Raja of Cochin, Veera Kerala
Varma- partly as compensation for a temple they'd destroyed,
and partly as a bribe to gain favours from the ruling dynasty.
It was only in 1663, the year the Dutch wrested Cochin from
the hands of the Portuguese, that the palace shifted hands.
The Dutch renovated the palace- which is why it is also known
as the `Dutch Palace'- and made it (more or less) what it is
today.
The exterior of the Mattancherry Palace is fairly unornamented;
stark white walls, sloping brown roofs and trees form the picture.
It's a two-storied, quadrangular building, with a small temple
dedicated to the deity Palayannur Bhagwati in the central courtyard-
on either side of it are smaller shrines to Krishna and Shiva.
You can wander around the rooms of the Palace, some of which
have a historical significance of their own. The Central Hall
on the upper storey was once used as the venue for the coronation
of Cochin's rajas, and has a beautifully carved wooden ceiling.
Some of the other halls too are worth a look: the Dining Hall's
ornate ceiling is decorated with a series of brass cups, and
the ceiling of the Assembly Hall merits a few photographs- it's
highly ornamental. Take a look at the Royal Bedchamber too-
a lamp is kept burning here perpetually, in memory of a king
who died within the room.
Best Season: October to March.
Reach -
By Air: Cochin is well connected,
so getting here isn't a problem. The city's airport (which is
actually 26 km from the city centre) receives flights from all
across India and from a number of destinations abroad as well,
especially airports in the Middle East and in South East Asia.
By Rail: Ernakulam Junction is
the railway station, where trains from most of India's biggest
cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai come
in.
By Road: Well Connected to other
cities.
How to plan your tours:
Explore India, we offer tours packages and holidays guide to
all tourist destinations of India. For more tour options mail
us at info@easytravelindia.com
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