Umaid Bhavan Palace
Have you heard of a famine relief policy which gave rise to one of the largest royal residences of India?
Well what?? This was my reaction in Umaid Bhavan palace while reading a piece of article in museum.
For anyone who aren’t aware of the history behind the Umaid bhavan palace, the anecdote goes like this.
When a period of draught followed by a curse of saint happened in Jodhpur, the farmers approached the then king Umaid Singh to sought for some sort of employment.
The king in order to help the farmers, decided to build a lavish palace and that’s how the seed for the largest royal residence in the world was sown.
He commissioned Henry Vaguan lanchester, a renowned British architect to prepare plans for the palace. Around 3000 people were employed to build this palace.
The palace was designed with a blend of Western and Indian architectural patterns.
Interestingly like Khajuraho and Thanjavur temple, Umaid Bhavan palace was also constructed using interlocking system rather than mortar.
It took 14 years to complete the palace, as the main intention was to give employment to the farmers.
When the doors of the Umaid Bhavan palace was opened in 1943, it was considered as one of the largest royal residences in the world. With 347 rooms and several courtyards, Umaid Bhavan palace was certainly a magnificent palace.
However due to tragic events in the royal family, the palace couldn’t function fully for many years.
It was when Gaj Singh, grandson of Umaid Singh decided to convert a portion of palace to luxury hotel, it started functioning fully.
The palace was divided into three functional parts.
1. The residence of the royal family
2. A luxury Taj hotel
3. A musuem focusing on the history of Jodhpur Royal family
Umaid Singh
There were many things about Umaid Singh which made me moved that day in museum.
Whether it was about taking his polo team to England or his famine relief policy which gave rise to this majestic palace or the dam which remained as Jodhpur main water source even after half a century, the man himself was a true visionary.
Not to mention his love for flying which brought Jodhpur, it’s first aerodrome.
Even before Delhi airport was announced as International airport, Jodhpur airport had become International only by the efforts of the then king.
