Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Bangalore is regarded to be one of the most urban cities in India. And with our close reference with this tag, we almost forget our city’s royal heritage. That’s right, I am talking about our city’s royal stature. When we link Bangalore with royalty, only 2 things will come to our head. That is the Bangalore Palace and Tipu’s Summer Palace. These palaces were normally summer palaces as Bangalore never faced harsh summer seasons because of its ideal geographic location. These 2 palaces show how our city’s yesteryear’s heritage and prestige  led to the present flourishing stage. At times, a city’s royal stature glorifies its impression to a new level. I will be talking about these 2 places significantly in the below.

Bangalore Palace

Bangalore palace is a palace located in Bangalore which was built by Rev. Garrett, who was the first Principal of the Central High School in Bangalore, now known as Central College.The construction of the palace was started in 1862 and completed in 1944. In 1884, it was bought by the then Maharaja of Mysore HH Chamarajendra Wodeyar X. Now owned by the Mysore royal family,the palace has recently undergone a renovation.

bp-1It is mistakenly believed to be a replica of the Windsor Castle in England. The audio tour at the Bangalore palace clearly says that there was no reference to the Windsor Castle.

The sprawling grounds surrounding the palace are used for holding public events including music concerts.Many international artists have performed in the grounds.Over the past few years, Palace Grounds have been hosts to major artists like: One Direction, Aerosmith, Backstreet Boys, Elton John, Deep Purple, Textures, Akon, Black Eyed Peas, The Rolling Stones, Michael Learns to Rock, Roger Waters, Guns N’ Roses, The Prodigy, No Doubt, Scorpions, Enrique Iglesias, Machine Head, Cradle of Filth, Iron Maiden and Metallica.

Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace

Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace was the summer residence of the Mysorean ruler Tipu Sultan. It is located in Bangalore, India. Its construction was started by Hyder Ali within the walls of the Bangalore Fort and completed during the reign of Tipu Sultan in the year 1791. After the death of Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the palace was used by the British Administration as Secretariat before moving to Attara Kacheri in 1868. Today it is a tourist spot located at the center of Old Bangalore near Kalasipalyam Bus Stand and maintained by Government of Karnataka.bp-3

The structure has been built entirely with teak wood and stands adorned with pillars, arches and balconies. It is an example of Indo-Islamic architecture. It is believed that Tipu Sultan used to conduct his durbar (court) from the eastern and western balconies of the upper floor.There are beautiful floral motifs embellishing the walls of the palace. The site also holds a painting of grand throne visualized by Tipu Sultan himself.
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The rooms in the ground floor have been converted into a small museum showcasing various achievements of Tipu Sultan and his administration. There are newly done portraits of the people and places of that time. There is a replica of Tipu’s Tiger, which is presently in the Victoria and Albert Museum at London.The rooms in the ground floor have been converted into a small museum showcasing various achievements of Tipu Sultan and his administration. There are newly done portraits of the people and places of that time. There is a replica of Tipu’s Tiger, which is presently in the Victoria and Albert Museum at London.

Though monarchy might be abandoned in India now, these palaces are our gateway to take a peek at our glorious past as these palaces not only glorifies the impression of a place but  also enlightens us about our significant past.

 

By Prithviraj Singh Chauhan

Part time journalist, full-time observer. Editor-in-Chief at The Indian Wire. I cover updates related to business and startups.

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