[dadu]

Well this is one of those trips which was done in the Plane and train last year, had thought of writing this many times but some how kept slipping.

Trip started with a flight to Delhi and some waiting at the airport to catch the onward shatabdi to Jalandhar which reached there at 10:30PM,. A 30 min drive on the well laid out road between Jalandhar and Kapurthala and vola you have reached the The Princely State of Kapurthala.

Let the royal journey begin :


The Princely State of Kapurthala






Some Lessons in History

The history of the Town of Kapurthala goes back as early as the 11th Century it is said that Nawab Jassa Singh founded the state of Kapurthala in 1772, the present royal family of Kapurthala is descended from Nawab Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, a contemporary of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah and had an area of 1,690 sqkm.


Nawab Jassa singh


Jagatjit Palace, now the renowed Sainik School.

The much renowned Sainik School, formerly known as Jagatjit Palace, was formerly the palace of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kapurthala state, HRH Maharaja Jagatjit Singh. The palace building has a spectacular architecture based on the Palace of Versailles and is spread over a total area of 200 acres bought from the Maharaja for Rs 50000 at that time by the Army Board, Govt of India.

Tha palace has a serene view all around with lots of open ground and green forest area. This travelogue is the spectacular Journey of this palace.





The Main Big Arc of the Palace leads to the stairs going to the Darbar-e-khas, as seen from inside now in complete darkness of what was once the steps one needed to climb to reach your Maharaja, notice the 2 horses on both sides, they wait for the darbar to be in session and the sounds of the affluent climbing the steps.






Now if you are wondering whats that rectangular thing in the middle, its the fin radiator for heating the steps, found in every room of the palace, worked on hot water and remember, we are talking of early 1900, even before independence.


From the Archives of the Maharaja Himself (with never before seen pictures and antiques)

The Darbar-e-khaas



looks basic eh....look below




Dont miss the Jharokas at top meant for the Queens to witness the days proceeding of the Royal Darbar




The Royal Symbol for the State of Kapurthala as seen on the wooden floor of the Darbar-e-khaas




As you walk across the palace you can sense the lonliness of the corridors awaiting their Maharaja's footsteps, the huge balconies nostalgically reminding you of those days when the Maharaja was the ONLY supreme commander.


The Dining Hall

THEN

Dining hall

NOW



The Reading Room

THEN

Reading room

NOW
IMG_3450


The Drawing room

THEN

Drawing room

NOW



Now if you are wondering where's that round table, here is it..



It has the pictures of all the princesses of France, why?, because the Maharaja's new Queen was also France.


Get mesmerised by the beautiful artwork on the ceiling and arches.





Some of the many other antiques stored there.


Move over timeanddate.com, this is the clock showing timing of 12 capitals along with Local time, it shows temperate weather day and month all together. Also shows your position wrt the Sun and Moon, amazing, do we have any such mechanical thing available now.



A Gramaphone record storage cabinet to hold over 300+ records





So where's the player, would the Maharaja be satisfied with anything less than a kings Gramaphone, enter the Jukebox




Made of teak wood, fully imported from europe by Sea, works on winding, just like the old watches and when I asked someone there whats this, Ans: it a big cupboard, noone even looks at it, withering away like the rest of the rare antiques.




Now look at this table, made from hand by putting together 1x1mm (yes its mm) marble bricks of various colour together to capture the important mounuments of europe, the centre one is St.Peters Square, must have taken many years to make just one.




Where there is a jungle there is a Tiger and where there are palaces, you are bound to find them inside, the Maharajas were keen "Shikari's"

[dadu]

A Dressing table fit for the Queen




Fireplace in the Drawing room




Maharaja's Writing table




Finally some faces to put, The Chamber of the Princes, Delhi 1924



The lush green gardens around....






And the ones not so green....



Notice the array of fountains along the path, this path was used by the Maharaja and his Queens for evening walks





these canopies were used by the Royal families for the evenings and waiting for their Maharajas to come back from "Shikar", all nostalgically withering away with the bygone era, a glorious one.


It is said that the souls of the royal family still are protecting the palace and are seen in the birds and animals around just like this magnificent peacock found in abundance around the palace campus, nobody disturbs them, NOBODY.



and the while hornbill (never seen a white one), royal blood.




but none the less the palace is well protected by its own set of anti-aircraft missiles, artillery and tanks.




There are many stories and mysteries around the palace, with under ground tunnels reaching the harem and what not, but thats all bygone now as the dusk has already set on the "Sone ki chidiya" and nostalgically the era of the "Maharaja's" is long over.

[mobike008]

Note from Mod : Thread moved to the Travelogue section. Thanks for sharing

[amitk26]

Thanks Dadu for sharing , nice set of photographs from bygone era

[mobix]

Thanks for the history lesson dadu. Remind me of Mysore Palace we visited few years back. The old pics, were they available at the palace ?

[voyageur]

Hi,

Thanks bringing this historic place into everybody's notice. The pics of the bygone era and their relative present era were breathtaking. The Gramophone record collections too is unbelievable, as they have preserved everything this long. Hope that you will upload some more pics of the place.

Drive safe.


Cheers

[dadu]

Originally Posted by mobix

Thanks for the history lesson dadu. Remind me of Mysore Palace we visited few years back. The old pics, were they available at the palace ?

No, its from the private collection.

Originally Posted by voyageur

Hi,

Thanks bringing this historic place into everybody's notice. The pics of the bygone era and their relative present era were breathtaking. The Gramophone record collections too is unbelievable, as they have preserved everything this long. Hope that you will upload some more pics of the place.

Drive safe.


Cheers

Thanks for the comments, its actually amazing to see all those and imagine at those times.