Royal Castle In an Indian City?

I have been wondering since my school days when we used to study history and read words like castle and wonder at that time what’s this all about. Why the structure of some ancient monument in the west looks different from the monuments in India. As we grew I gradually got to know it’s the architecture followed in different parts of the world. In west the structure of the Castle is somewhat built in a very unique style which can’t be seen in this part of the world.

Sometime in 2010, one of my friends had told that there is a palace in Bangalore which looks like a castle and which we call as the Bangalore Palace. From that time I have been trying to visit this palace and it took me almost some 4-5 years for me to get the most valuable time to explore this magnificent Palace.

It was on the May Day, 1st of May 2015, when I was on a holiday that I decided to go to this Castle called Bangalore Palace. At around 10.30 am I embarked on my journey towards the palace and reached there around 11.30 am. As soon as I parked my vehicle I was seeing something very extravagant.In my exploration of the ancient monuments, I have never seen a Palace so big and huge.The Palace was open and I went straight to the ticket counter for purchasing the tickets. Just when I was buying the tickets, the counter clerk told me to go for the audio guide which will be helpful while visiting the palace. I took the audio guide and started the tour inside the palace.

Bangalore Palace,Bangalore

The history of the palace dates back to the 18^th century when this Palace was built. The Bangalore Palace was built by Rev.j.Garett, who was the first Principal of the Central High School in Bangalore, which is now known as Central College. This Palace was constructed during the period 1862-1944 and this was bought by the Maharaja of Mysore Chamaraja Wodeyar. This palace is built across an area of some 450 acres of land spread across the Palace grounds. The Palace is built in Tudor style architecture which is basically a four centered arch which in England we call as Tudor arch (depressed arch) which is a wide type of arch with a pointed apex with fortified towers, battlements and turrets. This form of architecture is famous across England during the Tudor period (1485-1603) and mostly it can be found in the castles built during that period. This Palace was built after being inspired by the Windsor Castle.

Ball Room,Bangalore Palace.

As soon as I bought my tickets I was witness to the grand staircase and the Ball room which is in the ground floor of the Palace. I went first to the Ball room which was in the ground floor. This is a grand hall which was used by the Royal Family for get together and gatherings with the foreign guest. This room is a grand one with the polished teak floor which was made with the teak being bought from Burma and cut glass Chandeliers from Belgium. The side walls of the room are ornamentally painted with the mustard yellow with a combination of cream on red panels and geometric patterns which gives colorful festive look inside the Ball Room. All in all I felt as if I am on a Royal invitation for a party in the Palace.

Stair Case,Bangalore Palace

Post the Ball room visit I moved to the first floor through the staircase and that was the other majestic and exquisite thing to see while I moved the stairs upside. As we climb the stairs, we can see the side walls adorned with paintings and exquisite chandeliers, lamp holders and floral vases which bright up this entry to the Durbar Hall.

Mounted Head of Elephant,Bangalore Palace.

As I moved from the staircase towards the Durbar Hall. I witnessed one of the macabre artifacts in the form of a mounted head of an elephant on the walls of the Palace. This was a testimony of the times when the Maharajahs used to hunt the elephants and keep them as artifacts and memorabilia in their palaces. The elephant was hunted by the Maharajah Jayachamaraja Wadiyar.The other highlight when I was going from the staircase was the intricately carved banister which leads us to the Durbar Hall.

Durbar Hall,Bangalore Palace.

As I reached the first floor, i was witness to one of the most extravagant visual treat, the Durbar Hall. This hall is a decorated hall with numerous mirrors, colorful chandeliers, paintings and the usual mustard yellow color on the walls with the red and white ornamental geometric patterns. This Durbar Hall was used by the Maharaja to address the assembly. The furniture inside this hall is simply lavish and extravagant. In one of the corners there was a piano lying as if it was just waiting for some musician to play the same in the Durbar Hall. The other very important factor which impressed me was the light in the hall. The light inside the Durbar Hall was all natural light which was coming from the huge windows which were on all the sides of the Hall.

Bronze Antiques,Bangalore Palace.

As I moved forward and entered the corridors of the Palace, it seemed to me that the same was cramped with lot of photo frames and artifacts on both sides and the tourists having very less space to cover the same in a short time. It seems if we go through the corridors, as if the history of the Palace is carved on the walls in the photo frames and the antiques coming all along from the European continent with a glimpse of the artistry from Spain and Portugal.The once which I had captured in my lens were a mixture of bronze and brass decorative pieces. 

Corridors In the Palace,Bangalore Palace.

The corridors and the passages were all either painted or marked with wallpapers with different patterns on floors, side walls and top floor surfaces, all in contrasting colors. When we pass through these corridors and the tourist crowd is more we will feel like we are participating in a painting festival. There was a foreign tourist delegation which has come from Iran and they were spellbound by the colors across the corridors. Passing by the corridors of Royal Palace, it feels as if we are the legacy holders of this vast empire and what legacy our ancestors have left in the past for us to see today.

Stools Made of Elephant feet,Bangalore Palace.

The next stop in the corridors was the macabre holdings the Maharajah’s has left in the palace in the form of artifacts made out of the feet of elephants and antelopes in the form of stools and chairs, flower vase made out of the trunk of the elephants. There were a lot of photographs in and around these artifacts of the Maharajah’s various hunts in the jungles of Mysore with the British counterparts which were a testimony of these artifacts in the Royal Bangalore Palace. As I personally am an animal lover, I was not happy for these but we have to realize that we have to live with the past and the artifacts are our past and we are just preserving the same. We should not run away from the truth and our past.

Corinthian Pillars,Bangalore Palace.

I then moved to the square courtyard which was renovated some time back with the cream colored Corinthian Pillars (one of the ancient Greek Roman Architecture) with a mix color of light green and light red shades on the pillars and as we move upwards the trend gradually changes with a different pattern of grills rather than a pillar in the ground with lot of tile work and motif with lot of stone brick work and different color patterns across the square courtyard. The whole of the square courtyard is so colorful that on a sunny day it will look like that we have come in the Royal Palace for a celebration. I wandered the whole of the Palace like a wanderer in search of new artifacts and new design’s and capturing most of them in my lens. The corridors were crowded with different artifacts kept for display. 

Chair to weigh the Jockeys,Bangalore Palace.

One of the artifacts which catch hold of me was the chair which was used by the erstwhile rulers to weigh the Jockeys. The Wadiyar rulers were very passionate followers of horse racing. This chair is a weighing chair to weigh the jockeys with a shape of horse hoof legs. The chair is carved in a shoe shape with a measuring stand on the right side and a weigh scale on the left side of the chair.

I was almost done with my visit to the Palace and was about to complete the tour and then I just went into a room which was the office room of the late Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar in the ground floor. The room looked like a choked room with a display of luxurious antiques, items, furniture’s, grand carpets and the ever green Belgium Chandeliers. I wondered how the late Maharajah’s used to work in this clogged room with so many heavy highly priced antiques and other items in the office.

Office room of Late,Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar,Bangalore Palace

It was now around 2.00 pm and i had completed the complete tour of the Palace.Then i moved to the front side of the Palace to look and capture the different facets of the Palace.Truly it was one of the best experiences i had doing this photo feature.I have taken almost from all the angles the view of the Palace.This was one of my favorites in the lot that i had taken from the Palace.When i was hopping through the length and breadth of the Palace,there was a small fountain in the center of the garden facing the palace.One Brahmani kite was flying in the midst but my presence was making the bird uncomfortable to come and sit on the fountain.I took a hiding in the adjacent hedges which was surrounding the garden.Then it flew back and sat on the fountain and from behind the hedges i took this snap of this beautiful bird.One of the most cherishing moments during the visit to the Palace.

Some of the things which people who tour this palace can note 
Open : All Days : Time : 10 am - 6 pm
How to reach
Local: You can reach this palace by auto ,taxi and bus.Local transport is easily available
Train: You can take a taxi or an auto from Bangalore City Jn Train Station -4 Km
By Air: You will get a Taxi or a bus from the Bangalore International airport.- 32 Km.
Entrance Fees : 
Indians: Rs.280/-
Foreigners : Rs 450/-
(This is inclusive of the audio guide.A valid ID card needs to be submitted at the counter which will be returned post the return of the audio kit)
Photography charges : 
Still camera: Rs.700/-
Videography charges :Rs.1000/-

The complete  photos of the Palace can be seen in Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/sujith768/albums/72157661315236000

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