Well Prema saved the best for last on this day in Bangalore,Bangalore Palace.

Bangalore Palace, which is mistakenly believed to be a replica of the Windsor Castle in England, was built by Rev. Garrett, who was the first Principal of the Central High School in Bangalore, now known as Central College. The construction of the palace was started in 1862 and completed in 1944. In 1884, it was bought by the then Maharaja of Mysore HH Chamarajendra Wadiyar X. It is now owned by the Mysore royal family.

This palace itself is about 45,000 sq. ft. with a large covered area behind it.  The Palace and the grounds surrounding it are spread across 454 acres.  British officials who were in charge of the education of the young prince HH Chamaraja Wodeyar bought the palace in 1873 A.D. from him at a cost of Rs. 40,000 and later renovated it.

The palace was built in Tudor style architecture with fortified towers, battlements and turrets. The interiors were decorated with elegant wood carvings, floral motifs, cornices and relief paintings on the ceiling. The furniture was neo-classical, Victorian and Edwardian in style.  A total of 35 rooms were built in the palace with most of them being bedrooms. The renovation included addition of stained glass and mirrors, specially imported from England (which are more beautiful than the pictures show), besides a manual lift and wooden fans.

In 1970, HH Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar is said to have transferred the possession of the property to two companies promoted by a civil contractor by name Chamaraju, close to the corridors of power. These companies were known as Chamundi Hotels (110 acre) and Sree Venkateswara Real Estate Enterprises Ltd (344 acre). But the companies were not incorporated and there was no sale deed either. It was a fraudulent transaction. Maharaja’s only son Srikanta Datta Narsimharaja Wadiyar instituted a civil suit against this deal. But the Maharaja HH Jayachamarjendra Wodeyar died in 1974.

The legal battle continued and in the meantime Srikanta Datta Narsimharaja Wadiyar gave 28 acres each to his five sisters. (He had no children, so no sons to pass the throne to, therefore the current “royal in power” is one of these 5 sisters son).  They are in possession of their respective portion and many events like Rock shows, exhibitions, marriages, tennis, cricket, golf and horse academies are conducted in those portions. Srikanta Datta Narsimharaja Wadiyar ultimately compromised with the Chamaraju Group in the years 1990 and 1994, and got back his portion of the property including the Main Palace except 45 acres, which the Chamaraju group still retains along the Jayamahal Road.

All along, the Government of Karnataka was making various attempts to confiscate the property under Land Acquisition Act 1894 and Urban Land (ceiling and regulation) Act 1976. Having not succeeded in their designs, the government ultimately enacted the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition & transfer) Act 1996 to expropriate the entire premises spreading over 450 acres of prime real estate in the world for a farthing of 11 crores Rupees. This dispute is pending.

The ground floor consists of an open courtyard containing granite seats covered with fluorescent blue ceramic tiles.

It also contains a ballroom for holding private parties.

The first floor, containing an elaborate hall known as the Durbar Hall, can be reached by climbing a decorated staircase.  The wood for this staircase is said to be from one mahogany tree.  Wood is very expensive here, so this staircase must be worth a fortune now.  It was so beautiful, I had to take a picture.

This is a sprawling hall where the king used to address the assembly.  The wood semi-circle was like a small stage where he would sit during these addresses.

The walls along the staircase are adorned with paintings and the Durbar Hall has a massive elephant head mounted in it. One side of the hall contains stained glass windows in Gothic style. The yellow color is used profusely and the walls and the sofa set in the hall are in yellow. A screen on one end separates the area where the ladies used to sit and watch the assembly proceedings in relative privacy. Some paintings of Raja Ravi Verma are also displayed here.

The interior walls of the palace are adorned by old paintings belonging to the mid-19th century, including some Greek and Dutch paintings. Some of the other attractions include a dining table belonging to the Diwan of Mysore, Sir Mirza Ismail. This table contained a mother-of-pearl inlay with Chinese lacquer work.

All the paintings were lovely but these are the two that I liked the most.  Go figure! Saraswati and Durga and Laksmi.

Srikanta Datta Narsimharaja Wadiyar worked towards renovating this palace after he obtained the right to own it.

The woodwork has been renovated and the ballroom has been redone. Even the brass-fittings and lamps have been replaced and the furniture has been newly upholstered.

Out of the collection of 30,000 photographs currently present in the palace, it is planned that about 1,000 of them will be restored and put up for viewing in an exhibition.  If you look through the columns in this courtyard you can see many pictures hanging. These are like family pictures, very unassuming.

This was such an unusual chair that I had to ask about it.  This was their ideas of a scale!  Look at the hooves for feet and the horseshoe where the weight is added.  Just my luck, like a needed a reminder that I was eating too much curry!

A room has been converted into a boutique where silks and other garments used by the royal family will be exhibited. It was not open the day I was there.  This picture is of the office still used today by the “royal in power”.  He was not there the day I was so I did not get to see him.  But they say when he is there, he walks around and talks to everyone.

The sprawling grounds surrounding the palace are used for holding public events including music concerts. Many international artists have performed in the grounds including: Aerosmith, Elton John, Deep Purple, Black Eyed Peas, The Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses. Metallica performed at Palace Grounds on Oct 30, 2011 as part of the Rock N India festival, their first show in India which was attended by 31,000 people.

The Bangalore Palace was interesting and strange all at the same time.  I guess when you mix Indian history with rock concerts the energy does get a bit odd.

It was a great day and I said “Thanks and Goodbye” to Prema. I will see her again on Day 4, but tomorrow, Day 3, I am off with her husband, Narender, who is also a guide to the “Home of Astanga Yoga” and “City of Palaces”, Mysore.

Stay tuned and thanks for reading.  I am getting some awesome comments.  Please feel free to share these blogs with your friends and make comments at the bottom of this page.