Palaces of India inside. The most beautiful Indian palaces (photos). Orchha – Jahangir Mahal and Raj Mahal palaces
The Mysore Palace, which is known as the Amba Vilas Palace, is located in the very center of the city of Mysore and can serve as its calling card. Mysore Palace is one of the greatest palaces in India. IN historical times this palace was the center of rule of the Mysore Maharajas.
In ancient times, the principality of Mysore was located in the southwestern part of the Hindustan Peninsula. The capital of this state was Seringapatam. The kingdom became famous in connection with the heroic resistance to English colonization, which lasted for forty years as part of the four Anglo-Mysore wars. Mysore was the last Indian princely state to lose its independence and was forced to join the East India Company.
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The main attraction of Mysore is the Mysore Palace, which was built in the 19th century (1897) on the site of a previously burnt palace. The building was built in the Indo-Saracenic style, a characteristic feature of which is the presence of a kaleidoscope of glass and mirrors. You can also see wonderful wooden doors decorated with carvings and a mosaic floor.
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Like many states of the Hindustan Peninsula, Mysore in the process of its development was under the rule of both the Mongols and Catholics.
The main rulers were members of the Wodeyar family, which originated from Dwarka in Katyavar. It was under their rule that the state of Mahishasura received the name Mysore. In the 18th century, by exercising total control over the minor Maharaja, Haidar Ali gradually seized power, and his son Tipu Sultan soon became the full-fledged ruler. The time of the supremacy of Haydar Ali and his son Tipu Sultan dates back to the very highest point the power of Mysore. The rulers, using the help of the French, modernized the army and achieved military victories in battles with neighboring principalities.
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At the end of the 18th century, Tipu Sultan was defeated in the Battle of Seringapatam by the British. Subsequently, the rights of the Vodeyarov dynasty were restored by the new government. However, in 1831, a representative of this family was removed from the throne by the same British, and only in 1881, thanks to the heir Chamaraja Wodeyar, who spent all these years in the courts, control of Mysore was returned to the Wodeyars. Mysore was the first Hindu princely state in India, which was part of Britain.
Mysore is often called the City of Palaces, but the main one is the Mysore Palace - official residence Vodeyarov. This palace was first built by the Wodeyar family in the 17th century, then it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. The modern interpretation of the palace was built between the 19th and 20th centuries. It was completed in 1940.
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Mysore Palace is one of the main attractions of India with quite big amount visits to this building by tourists. However, when visiting the palace, there is a ban on photography inside, and all tourists must remove their shoes before entering the palace.
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The architecture of the palace was influenced by the history of India. The combination of architectural styles such as Hindu, Muslim and Gothic gives originality and uniqueness to the building. The three-story stone structure has marble domes and five-story towers, the height of which reaches 44 meters. The palace is surrounded by a wonderful large garden.
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The modern Mysore Palace was designed by the British architect Henry Irwin on the instructions of the Regent of Mysore and construction was finally completed in 1912. The facade of the building consists of nine arches, seven of which are quite wide, and two are smaller. These arches are supported by tall columns.
Every year during the period September-October, the Dashar festival is held at the Mysore Palace, which symbolizes the victory of good over evil. According to mythology, it was in Mysore that the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura took place. The festival is accompanied by performances by artists and on the tenth day there is an elephant parade.
Such a holiday was celebrated by the Wodeyars back in the 17th century and even on a grand scale. The modern festival looks somewhat more modest, but is also quite impressive and is still part of cultural life Mysore. During the entire festival, the Mysore Palace is illuminated with a huge number of light bulbs (more than 96 thousand).
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A visit to the palace usually begins with a gallery of traditional dolls from the 19th and 20th centuries. This pavilion also houses an outstanding collection of sculptures reflecting Indian and European culture.
The wedding hall is an octagonal shaped pavilion with a beautiful glass ceiling containing a peacock mosaic. The floor of this room also continues the theme of peacocks, but now decorated with English tiles. Located on the walls a large number of paintings that highlight the splendor of the hall and illustrate the Dasara celebrations in previous centuries.
IN palace complex also includes 12 Hindu temples, the first of which was built in the 14th century, the last dates back to the 20th century.
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Like any palace, the Mysore Palace has a hall for private audiences. This room is intended for meetings between the ruler and his ministers, as well as for receiving visitors worthy of special attention.
The meeting hall in the Palace served for the king to receive the population at strictly designated times.
The armory houses an armory containing exhibits of the different types of weapons used by members of the royal family: weapons used both in the 14th century and weapons used in the early 20th century.
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Mysore Palace is business card city of Mysore. Today, the fourth version of this building has survived, built on the site of an earlier one that burned down, and reconstructed in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The walls of the palace are built of gray granite, and the three domes are decorated with pink marble. A special feature of this Palace is the presence of twelve temples in its composition, which were erected in honor of such gods as Shiva, Vishnu, Lakshmiramana, Someshvara, Varaha.
Because it's enough famous place, then a huge number of tourists visit the Palace every year. The largest influx of visitors is observed during the Dashar festival.
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Not far from the Palace of the Maharajas, there are: Chamundi Hill with ancient temples, Art Gallery, big statue bull Nanda, and oldest church Saint Philomena.
Chamundi Hill is located at an altitude of over a thousand meters above sea level and from it you can see a beautiful view of the city. Temple complex, including a 13th century temple that is dedicated to the goddess. A sculpture made of pure gold in the altar part of the temple is dedicated to her. The monolithic bull statue is about 5 meters high and is decorated with a bell and bracelets.
The art gallery is located in Jagmohan Palace and was founded in the 19th century. Here are paintings by the famous artist Svyatoslav Roerich, quite rare works of the same era, as well as traditional painting. Unique works of fine carving on sandalwood, semi-precious stones, and ivory.
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St. Philomena's Church is one of the largest churches in India and is designed in the Gothic style. Everything in this church speaks of the Christian orientation of faith. These are stained glass windows that depict the birth of Jesus Christ, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.
Not far from Mysore (about 19 kilometers) are the famous Brindavan Gardens. The “highlight” of this place is the presence of animal figures that are trimmed from bushes. Fountains that come to life with the help of flowering lawns and gazebos also fit perfectly into displays. huge amount lights in the evenings after sunset.
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Unfortunately, there are no flights to Mysore, but you can easily get there by bus or train. Private buses depart from Goa and Bombay every 15 minutes. There is also a high-speed, comfortable express service that departs every day except Tuesday.
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The Principality of Mysore in southern India was founded in 1399. The Wodeyar dynasty ruling here was initially a vassal of the Vijayanagar Empire. With its decline (around 1565), the Vodeyars were among the first to declare their independence. In the 17th century, the principality became a powerful state in South India. During the time of the rulers Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan, it reached the height of its power and prosperity. Sultan Tipu, known as the "Tiger of Mysore", became a legend during his lifetime and is still considered one of the most enlightened rulers in India. “In this world, I would rather live two days like a tiger than two hundred years like a sheep,” said Tipu Sultan, fiercely resisting British colonization in southern India. It took the British enormous efforts and resources, four grueling Anglo-Mysore wars and 40 years before Mysore, the last of the Indian principalities, was included in the British East India Company (Sultan Tipu died in the last battle of the fourth Anglo-Mysore war).
Twenty-five Maharajas of the Wodeyar dynasty ruled the city during its 570-year history, until the declaration of Indian independence in 1947 and the government declaration of the final abolition of their ceremonial functions in 1970. The rulers of the ruling dynasty were patrons of art and culture, making significant contributions to cultural development city, which gave Mysore its name Capital of Culture state of Karnataka.
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Mysore is well known for its Dasara festival, painting, sweets, traditional silk turbans, incense making, yoga schools. Every year thousands of foreigners visit Mysore to study yoga. It is one of the most popular yoga centers in India.
Mysore is one of the first cities in India to implement the ideas of modern urban planning, as evidenced by wide shady boulevards, well-equipped markets and beautiful parks. The city is famous for its palaces and ancient administrative buildings. There are 17 palaces in total. One of them has been turned into a museum, another into an art gallery, and three more into hotels.
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A hundred years ago, there were about 600 principalities in British India, ruled by local monarchs - maharajas, nawabs and nizams. After India gained independence in 1947, they lost power but retained numerous privileges, treasures and palaces. Nowadays, most of the residences have museums, but only part of the palace premises is open to tourists - the remaining luxurious chambers are still inhabited by maharajas or their descendants.
Maharana Palace in Udaipur (Rajasthan, India)
The city of Udaipur, founded in the mid-16th century, was the capital of the Rajput princely state of Mewar, the eldest native princely state of British India. Here is one of the largest and most beautiful palaces in India, which today is called City Palace. Construction of the building began in 1559 on the orders of maharana (as monarchs are called in the local dialect) Udai Singh and lasted more than 300 years. Finally on the shore beautiful lake Pichola grew a huge palace complex, which combined features of local Rajasthani, as well as Mughal and European architecture.
Fresh review
Finally, in the spring of 1949, the day came when the last scaffolding was removed. Creators architectural ensemble We walked around again and carefully examined the entire structure. All the shortcomings they noticed were corrected in the short period of time that remained until the day official delivery. Member of the selection committee along with Soviet architects and figures visual arts included several leading comrades from SVAG.
Random entries
We have a few days left before leaving home and we have already seen enough cities, towns and even villages. But there was one more city left, significant for Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (this is more familiar to me, well, I studied “before historical materialism”, or rather, under it, when all the toponymy on maps was written in Russian transcription. And I studied in Faculty of Geography, and we took this toponymy, or as we called it - map nomenclature, weekly and with passion. So, for me, these objects are still listed as Halle and Harz, period).
I’ll tell you a little about the hotel in Sharjah. We chose an inexpensive hotel with private beach. And in general, we liked everything, except for the lack of alcohol, but this is of course not the hotel’s problem, but the problem of the Emirate of Sharjah as a whole.
The hotel's name is quite corny - Beach Hotel Sharjah ( Beach Hotel Sharjah). Upon check-in, we were very happily informed that they had made a free upgrade and instead of "city view" they gave us " sea view". To be honest, I like looking at the city more than at the sea - it’s just more interesting, but we didn’t have to choose. And as it turned out, the sea was still not visible from our room, but at the same time we had our own separate access to the swimming pool is very convenient.
All rooms, which supposedly overlook the sea, have a balcony, which is very convenient in principle. And those who live on the first floor have a balcony with access to the pool.
The first couple of days after our arrival we decided to get a little acquainted with the local environment and take a walk in the nearby parks. And since this park was a 15-minute walk away, we went there. It is named after actor and director Ted Craig. I looked on Wikipedia, there is a director who directed the series “The Box” and the film “Look Back in Anger” in 1985 based on the play by John Osborne. I couldn’t find a film from this year; there are films with the same name from 1959 and 1989. I didn’t watch it; complex family relationships in American life are not my thing. And that’s not what we’ll be talking about.
This last part will be devoted to sports and, probably, construction and new buildings (if now you can call that the buildings that had already been built by the time the album was released)
This article begins a description of our new travels in America. In general, I didn’t think that we would travel such a distance again, but my husband retired, and having nothing to do, he suddenly developed a craving for distant travels. And since our visa to the USA had not yet expired, we decided to use the opportunity to ride unhindered, and Ksyusha supported us. So, it took almost 24 hours to get from Almaty to Los Angeles: 6 hours to Istanbul and more than 13 hours from Istanbul to Los Angeles, plus the transfer took 2.5 hours. To relieve the stress of this long flight, I would like to communicate with nature, but in such a way that it doesn’t take a long time to get to it.
Let me start with the fact that all over the world (including, oddly enough, even) brown signs mean some sites of interest to tourists - natural and cultural attractions, museums, historical monuments. But not in the Review. There is practically nothing to look at in Obzor, so absolutely all available signs here are brown. Of the new ones, anyway. (Everything that should really have brown indicators is listed in the note
!
As of September 1, 2019, the full cost of the visa in rubles (including consular fee, bank fee and my registration):
- on 30 days(from April to June) = 2100
rub,
- on 30 days(July to March) = 3000
rub,
- on 1 year multi = 4200
rub,
- on 5 years multi = 7100
rub.
.
If you want abandoned medieval palaces and temples, a bright, warm, relaxed atmosphere, go to the central part of India, the state of Madhya Pradesh. There, on the banks of the Betwa River, there is a small town - very interesting, cozy, full of palaces and temples.
Orchha - the former capital of a medieval princely state
From the 16th to the 18th centuries, Orchha was the capital of the Bundela Rajput dynasty.
These were the times when India was ruled by the Great Mughals. The Rajputs ensured that their principalities retained autonomy within the Mughal Empire. They were defenders of Hindu values and built cities, palaces and temples.
Orchha silhouettes
We lived on a central street near the main square.
Our street 
If you go along this street in one direction - through the white gates with towers - then you find yourself in the Rama Temple, and if in the other - across the bridge - you find yourself in a fairy tale about the maharajas.
Orchha – Jahangir Mahal and Raj Mahal palaces
Behind the fortress wall there is a complex of two palaces - Jahangir Mahal (an example of medieval Islamic architecture) and Raj Mahal (Hindu).
The Jahangir Mahal Palace was built especially for the visits of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir.
The palaces are neglected, abandoned, but very beautiful! How interesting it is to climb everywhere inside and examine everything.
The palaces are multi-tiered, fancy, with turrets. In the center there is a courtyard, around which there are enfilades of rooms, balconies, and terraces.
You wander through the labyrinths and imagine yourself as a “maharana” living here.
And how many unexpected transitions there are; long galleries; narrow steep secret staircases hidden in the thickness of the walls; small barred balconies to contemplate the surroundings from above without being noticed; all kinds of gazebos on the roof; small dark rooms of unknown purpose... It’s very easy to get lost.
You can spend the whole day there and not get bored.
View of Orchha from the roof of the palace
Gazebos on the roof of the palace
These gazebos were very impressive - such heavy domes on thin, thin legs.
And here is my favorite photo from Orchha
View from the roof of the palace to the Betwa River and the fortress walls
Be sure to go through the palace, go out to the fortress walls and take a walk to the river. There are no people there at all, you can wander alone for a long time, bumping into old blackened temples...
A feeling of peace, abandonment and falling out of time...
A ticket to the palaces costs 250 rupees. With the same ticket you can visit Lakshmi Narayan Temple, Chaturbhuj Temple and Chatris, so don't throw it away. But keep in mind that the ticket is only valid for one day.
Chatris – cenotaphs of the rulers of Orchha
The Chatris are located about a kilometer south of the town itself, on the banks of the Betwa. Chatris are the cenotaphs of the rulers of Orchha, rather gloomy buildings on the roofs of which vultures live.
I didn't want to go inside, so I stayed on the banks of the Betwa.
Not far from me, a sadhu was washing his hair in the river, two rafts were rafting down the river past him, and vultures were sitting on the turrets of the cenotaph, looking out for their prey...
Location: northern India, Uttar Pradesh, bank of the Jamna River, southern outskirts of the city of Agra.
How to get there: on your own in a rented car (200 km south of Delhi, the car will have to be parked 2 km before the mausoleum), by express train (2 hours drive) or bus (4 hours drive) from the capital, or as part of an organized excursion.
Working hours: from 6:00 to 19:00 on weekdays, except Friday (at this time prayers are held in the mosque). Night viewing is possible during the full moon.
Entrance: 750 rupees (about $15).
Shooting: allowed in the general plan at the entrance; photographing the architectural details of the mausoleum is prohibited.
India is beautiful, distant, mysterious, exotic... What comes to mind first when you hear the mention of this country? Buddhism, Gandhi, elephants, Kama Sutra, lotuses, black-eyed beauties in colored saris, Kipling's fairy tales, Goa beaches- it’s different for everyone. But if you ask anyone to name the most striking architectural monument of India, we assure you that the vast majority will remember exactly this snow-white openwork temple-tomb - the Taj Mahal, monument great love, an unofficial symbol of India, considered by many to be one of the modern miracles Sveta.
History of creation
The romantic and tragic story of the creation of this mausoleum was not retold with a stingy tear, except by the laziest guide. In the middle of the 17th century, the grandiose building was built at the behest of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who thus wanted to perpetuate the memory of his beloved third wife, who died during the birth of their 14th child. More than twenty thousand skilled craftsmen from all over Asia, under the supervision of the Council of Architects of the Empire, worked for about 20 years to create a miracle complex.
White marble, turned into real lace by stone carvers, precious and semi-precious stones, bronze, gold and silver - the inconsolable emperor spared no expense and materials for the construction. By the way, the great warrior and enlightened ruler Shah Jahan is the customer not only of this white marble mausoleum, but also of several other equally beautiful, but slightly less famous architectural masterpieces India: Pearl Mosque in Agra, Diwan-i-Am and Diwan-i-Khas in Delhi, Shahjahanabad.
According to legend, another black palace was to be built opposite the white palace, connected to it by a marble bridge, as a tomb for the emperor himself. Whether this is true or not, after his death Shah Jahan was buried in the Taj, next to his beloved wife. And before that, the overthrown ruler allegedly looked at his monument of love for many years through the window of the prison into which he was thrown by his own son, who rebelled against his father.
Mausoleum in Agra
Lyrics are lyrical, but from an architectural point of view, the Taj Mahal is truly impressive and is rightfully considered a jewel Muslim art, which absorbed elements of several styles at once.
The white marble mausoleum on a square pedestal, the building with high arched openings - the center of a symmetrically built complex - is more than 70 meters high. Its main “onion” dome is surrounded by four smaller ones of the same shape. All domes are decorated with gilded bronze figures in the Persian style (there is a crescent moon on the central dome). Along the edges of the platform there are four forty-meter minarets with balconies. And inside the mausoleum there are two carved tombs, decorated with colored mosaics - Shah Jahan and his beloved wife. The entire surface of the mausoleum is decorated with carvings, ornaments, stone flowers, gilding, and inscriptions from the Koran.
To the left of the tomb is a red sandstone mosque, and a replica of it is to the right. Adjacent to the mausoleum is a once luxurious garden with fruit trees, fountains and a swimming pool. Today, the park is just a vast grassy area with a row of cypress trees around a long canal. Also on the territory of the complex there are several low structures made of the same red sandstone - the tombs of the wives and the favorite servant of the Shah.
Our days
TO end of the 19th century century, the mausoleum fell into disrepair and was plundered by the British military. In addition, its polished marble walls were adversely affected by the shallowing of the nearby river and general environmental pollution (Agra was home to hazardous industries for a long time). The once shining walls darkened and cracks appeared in them. The world landmark had to be urgently saved.
The complex has already undergone one large-scale reconstruction, the environmental protection zone around it is constantly expanding, the walls are regularly cleaned with white clay, hundreds of security personnel are always on duty around it, but so far the measures taken are not enough.
In 1983, the Taj Mahal was included in the list of objects World Heritage UNESCO. Several million tourists from all over the world visit it every year, bringing good income to the state.
The best time to visit the mausoleum is considered to be early in the morning, when there are few people around and in the pre-dawn silence the first rays of the sun paint the marble walls with unusually delicate colors and reflections. Centuries later, the majestic and graceful Taj Mahal still inspires and delights romantics from all corners of the earth.