Bangalore Palace
Bangalore Palace, a palace located in Bangalore, India, 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.
Now owned by the Mysore royal family,the palace has recently undergone a
renovation. It is mistakenly believed to be a replica of the Windsor Castle
in England. The audio tour at the Bangalore palace clearly says that there
was no reference to the Windsor Castle.
History
Rev. Garrett, the first principal of the Central High School, built this
palace with a floor area of 45,000 sq ft (4200 m²). The Palace and the
grounds surrounding it are spread across 454 acres (183 ha). 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, which was neo-classical,
Victorian and Edwardian in style, was bought from John Roberts and Lazarus.
The upkeep of the gardens was the responsibility of the horticulturist
Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel. 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, besides a manual lift
and wooden fans from General Electric.
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 (P) Ltd (110 acre) and Sree
Venkateswara Real Estate Enterprises (p) Ltd (344 acre). But on the given
date the companies were yet to be 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 mean time Srikanta Datta Narsimharaja Wadiyar gave 28
acres (110,000 m2) each to his five sisters namely Late Gayatri Devi,
Meenakshi Devi, Kamakashi Devi, Indrakshi Devi and Vishalakshi Devi in 1983
along the Ramana Mahasrhi Road.
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
(180,000 m2), 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 under Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda 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 before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India till date
as it needs constitutional issues like whether material resources of the
community under Article 39(b) of the Indian Constitution covers what is
privately owned. The same awaits decision by a 9 Judge Constitution Bench of
Indian Supreme Court. This will be a landmark decision as otherwise it will
open flood gates of vexatious legislation to confiscate similar properties
all over the Country without paying even a fraction of market value. This is
in quite contrast to new Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Bill, 2013 recently passed by the Indian Parliament.
Internal Structure
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. This
is a sprawling hall where the king used to address the assembly.
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 colour 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.
Renovation
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. A room has been converted into a boutique where silks and other
garments used by the royal family will be exhibited. The palace is open to
the public who can visit it after paying a fee (entry is from Palace Road
near the railway over bridge and as of August 2013, the ticket is for Rs.
225 per head for Indians/Rs. 450 for foreigners including a nifty audio
guide. Using a still camera is another Rs. 675). There are also plans to
rent out the ballroom for private parties and to sell silk scarves,
photographs and other articles used by the royal family to tourists.
Illumination of the palace and renovating the gardens using Mexican grass is
in progress.
Palace Grounds
The sprawling grounds surrounding the palace are used for holding public
events including music concerts.Many international artists have performed in
the grounds.
Over the past few years, Palace Grounds have been hosts to major artists
like: Iron Maiden (twice), Opeth, Metallica, Aerosmith, Backstreet Boys,
Elton John, Deep Purple, Textures, Amon Amarth, Lamb Of God, Mark Knopfler,
Akon, Black Eyed Peas, The Rolling Stones, MLTR, Roger Waters, Guns N'
Roses, The Prodigy, No Doubt, Scorpions, Enrique Iglesias, Machine Head,
Cradle of Filth.
Iron Maiden's performance in 2007 was a historic gig named Eddfest in the
sub-continent. The concert was part of the band's A Matter Of Life And Death
Tour. The name Eddfest is taken from the band's mascot Eddie. The concert is
the largest paid concert ever to take place in India with an estimated
38,000 people in attendance with 4000 people watching from outside the venue
without tickets. It marked the first visit of Iron Maiden to the Indian
subcontinent, and the first major heavy metal concert to take place in the
country.
Jay Sean, Ludacris and Flo Rida performed in Palace Grounds on 22 September
2011 for the opening ceremony of the Champions League T20.
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.
Fun World
Fun World is an amusement park situated in palace grounds complex. It has
various joy rides, water park and snow room.
Getting There
Nearest airport is Kempegowda International Airport (IATA: BLR, ICAO: VOBL),
an international airport serving the Indian city of Bangalore. It is 4
kilometres (2.5 mi) south of Devanahalli and is 40 kilometres (25 mi) from
the central business district of Bangalore, (30 kilometres (19 mi) from the
Bangalore City Railway Station and covers 4,700 acres (1,900 ha).
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