Dungarpur – the somehow different Palace

17. February 2019

 

In Rajasthan, you are shown one palace after the other when travelling. And at some point, you don’t even know which palaces to assign the photos to. I have also seen quite a few palaces so far. They don’t really knock my socks off anymore.

 

And then it happened: there was one palace that really amazed me! It’s called Juna Mahal and is in Dungarpur – south of Udaipur. You drive through narrow lanes up a hillside. Or rather to the centre of it.

 

 

At the end of the street is an unremarkable little palace. But what there is to discover inside!

 

 

Even in the inner courtyard, the walls were specially designed. There was a man who showed us round. He told us that 2-3 people came every day.

 

 

We climbed up 7 floors of narrow stairs. And on each floor there were rooms with a surprising mix of decorations. There was so much to discover. It was also nice that you could walk around everywhere and weren’t constantly being pushed through with explanations. (I really hate the ones who told me where to take a photo). Here is the great hall where the ruler held court.

 

 

It would take a lot of time to look at every wall and ceiling painting. There were so many different things to see. Here are a few details from the assembly hall. Krishna, the charming playboy, was often depicted.

 

 

 

There were also lots of mirrors. One room had a mirrored floor. And the mirrors somewhere else – such an exciting room!

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the windows attracted me to take photos out of them. Towards the back were the servants’ quarters.

 

 

 

I actually find photos of paintings boring. But many of these paintings were so funny that I wanted to capture them and show them here.

 

 

 

The palace was started in the 13th century and over the years more and more rooms and details were added. In the mid-20th century, nobody wanted to live there anymore and so it fell into disrepair. There is talk of making it really smart again. I actually quite like the way it is now because you can discover so much for yourself.

 

 

And then a day full of surprises awaited us!