Last Updated:
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala was famed for dazzling wealth, extravagant celebrations and a lifestyle so lavish that stories emerged of swimming pools filled with champagne.
News18
Few Indian rulers have inspired as many tales of luxury and excess as Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. Ruling the princely state from 1900 until 1938, he became one of the most famous—and controversial—maharajas of the British Raj. His wealth, jewellery, automobiles and lavish entertainments were so extraordinary that they spawned stories that continue to circulate nearly a century later.
Among the most colourful legends associated with Bhupinder Singh is the claim that he filled swimming pools with champagne for his guests. Whether literally true or not, the story captures the image that contemporaries and later writers cultivated around the Patiala ruler: a man whose hospitality knew few limits and whose parties became legendary across India and beyond.
Bhupinder Singh presided over one of the wealthiest princely states in India. Accounts from the period describe a ruler who maintained an enormous household, collected luxury automobiles, owned private aircraft and commissioned some of the most spectacular jewellery ever created. In 1928, he ordered the famous Patiala Necklace from Cartier, a masterpiece containing nearly 3,000 diamonds and centred on the celebrated De Beers diamond.
His reputation for entertaining was equally remarkable. Dignitaries, military officers, sportsmen and foreign visitors attended grand receptions at his palaces. The Maharaja’s name even became associated with the famous “Patiala peg”—an unusually generous measure of whisky said to have originated at his court. The narrative mirrors the image of a ruler who believed in making his hospitality memorable and lavish.
The palaces of Patiala themselves helped perpetuate his image. The ruler extended his residential properties, had plenty of recreational facilities, and held sports events which drew crowds from all around India and beyond. Descriptions of his times were characterized by a mention of the lavishness of his lifestyle and social functions.
Little by little, fiction and reality got entangled together. Stories of swimming pools filled with champagne, endless banquets, and magnificent festivities became part of the larger tale of princely India. Although the modern historians have been successful in validating all the stories of his fabulous wealth and his extravagant parties, many exaggerated stories were spread only by the oral tradition.
It could be precisely because of this reason that such legends have survived till date. The Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of fable and lore will always be associated with the idea of royalty in its most luxurious form.
Read More
