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Perched above Jodhpur’s Blue City, Umaid Bhawan Palace is more than a luxury hotel. Nearly a century after its construction, it remains the private residence of royal family.
News18
Few palaces in India can claim to be both a world-famous luxury hotel and an active royal residence. Yet that is precisely what makes Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur so remarkable. Rising tall in the Blue City on the hill of Chittar, the golden sandstone palace not only remains the residence of the former royal family of Jodhpur but also welcomes guests from all over the world.
The construction of the palace was initiated by Maharaja Umaid Singh in 1928, for a very unique purpose. The Marwar region was suffering from a prolonged drought and famine, and the Maharaja initiated the massive construction project to provide employment to thousands of local people. Construction continued for around 14 years before the palace was completed in 1943.
Designed by British architect Henry Vaughan Lanchester, Umaid Bhawan blended Indo-Saracenic, Classical and Art Deco influences into a structure unlike any other in India. Built from distinctive golden-yellow Chittar sandstone, it became one of the largest private residences in the world. The palace contains 347 rooms, grand halls, sweeping staircases, elegant courtyards and expansive gardens spread across 26 acres.
What sets Umaid Bhawan apart from many other princely residences is that it never became merely a monument to the past. Today, the palace is divided into three sections. One wing remains the private residence of the Jodhpur royal family, headed by Maharaja Gaj Singh II, the grandson of Umaid Singh. Another section operates as the celebrated Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace hotel, while a third houses a museum showcasing the history of the Jodhpur royals, vintage clocks, photographs and classic automobiles.
Visitors often arrive expecting a grand heritage hotel but leave fascinated by the fact that royalty still lives behind parts of the palace’s walls. The arrangement has allowed the palace to remain a living institution rather than a static museum. The family rites, traditions of the royal lineage, and history of the Rathores go hand-in-hand with the hotel’s operations which have made the place world-famous.
The hotel has played host to royalty, stars, and grand weddings, especially those of Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. Nevertheless, despite its worldwide acclaim, Umaid Bhawan Palace is essentially a private home.
A time when many other palaces of the nobility have been consigned to the pages of history, Umaid Bhawan Palace has become one of the rare exceptions, where the saga of Indian royals lives on through the palace itself.
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