Tuesday, April 23, 2013

One of the world's largest private residences

" Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India


* Umaid Bhawan Palace, located at Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India, is one of the world's largest private residences.
* A part of the palace is managed by Taj Hotels.
* Named after Maharaja Umaid Singh, grandfather of the present owners of the palace, this monument has 347 rooms with 110 feet high central dome.
* It serves as the principal residence of the erstwhile Jodhpur royal family.
* Umaid Bhawan Palace was called Chittar Palace during its construction due to its location on Chittar Hill, the highest point in Jodhpur.
* Ground for the foundations of the building was broken on 18 November 1929 by Maharaja Umaid Singh and the construction work was completed in 1943.
* Umaid Bhawan Palace was amongst the last palaces to be built in India.
* At the same time, it was also one of the last structures built in Rajasthan, on 'food for work' basis, for drought relief.
* It is said that approximately 5000 men were employed in the construction of the Umaid Bhawan Palace of Jodhpur.
* An interesting feature of the palace is that no mortar or cement was used in its construction. Rather, carved stones were used and joined together by a system of interlocking positive and negative pieces.
* The architect of the palace was H V Lanchester and he designed it as per the Indo-Art-Deco style of architecture.
* During that time, the cost of construction came to somewhere around one crore (ten million) rupees.
* The present owner of the Palace is His Highness Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur.
* The Palace is divided into three functional parts - a luxury Taj Palace Hotel (in existence since 1972), the residence of the erstwhile royal family, and a Museum focusing on the 20th century history of the Jodhpur Royal Family.
* Umaid Bhawan Museum displays a rich collection of pictures, arms, swords, stuffed leopards, clocks and other items belonging to the royal family.
* It is open to the general public from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm daily, except Sunday.

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