29th January 2011
It usually happens that in our zeal to explore new areas, we often ignore the nearer ones. One such place was “Bangalore Palace”. Although, it is one of the prime places in Bangalore for movie shootings, it never came into my mind to visit this place!! We had Henk visiting our Office from Netherlands and hence I got a chance to see Bangalore Palace!!!! Along with Henk, Nataraj and Hareesha, I visited this place.
The Palace at the center of the city is now owned by Srikantha Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar from Mysore royal family. It has no similarities with Mysore Palace but looks like a minor version of a castle. The place is also rented to super rich people for holding private parties.
Audio guide is available at the Palace which gives very clear information about the lifestyle of Mysore kings. It is available in English, Kannada, Hindi and other few European languages. Lots of paintings and photographs on Mysore rulers adorn the walls. It is better to take an audio guide to understand about the place and the paintings. You need to carry an original copy of ID or pay Rs 2000/- as deposit to get the audio guides.
What I was surprised was about entry fees to the Palace. An entry costs Rs 100/- while an audio guide costs Rs 175/- (This includes entry). And then comes the catch of all; Rs 500/- for a still camera!! Needless to say, foreigners have to shell more.
Team G Square
Lovely palace . wonderful to visit .
Sridharan
No wonder, this place is not frequented by common travelers. Rs 500- for still camera is ridiculous..! I would still pay and take some pictures on my next visit to Bangalore though. Looks like an interesting castle..sorry Palace.(lol). Thanks Arvind for the wonderful pictures.
Anu
It looks beautiful! does it always look like this, or has it been decked up for an occasion? just a thought, because of all those chairs around!
and the camera fee is just too atrocious!!! and as u say, for foreigners, its always more!
R a n j i t
I hope the last pic is not a real elephant's leg ( which I doubt ) What a shame
Aishwarya Belliappa
Aravind, Like the write up as always. I visited this place sometime back with my mom. Since I am a fan of the Mysore palace, I was hoping for something similar but was disappointed. Liked most of it, hated the paintings here. Think its from the newer Kings. I hope the bedroom are now done up, they were in the process of restoring it
Aravind GJ
G Square, Sridharan,
Thanks.
Anu,
Yes. There was a function in the evening and preparations were going on for that!!
Ranjit,
It's a real leg of an elephant shot by the king. In fact, there are several such "so called trophies" like elephant head, stag, trunk etc.
Aishwarya,
The place is now fully restored.
sm
beautiful palace pics
It usually happens that in our zeal to explore new areas, we often ignore the nearer ones
Aravind GJ
sm,
Thanks.
Srikanth Manjunath
Indeed…your statement is true..plants in backyard are not medicines..that goes the proverb…Bangalore palace is rich from the outer view..it is totally different architecture rarely scene in indian palaces…filmy people exploited this palace from the ages..especially Ravi Mama in most of his movies..Will make a visit one day surely after going through your blog.
parthi007
Do we have any lockers outside to leave our cameras outside and avoid paying camera fee?
RAVI KUMAR
I MUNIKOTI KRISHNA SHASTRY RAVI KUMAR LOVING ROYAL FAMILY OF MYSORE SINCE MY CHILD HOOD MY GRAND FATHER AND MY FATHER PARTICIPATED MOST OF THE WORKS IN DURING THE RULE OF MAHARAJA SRI SRI NALVADI SRI KRISHNA RAJA WODEYAR BAHADUR. THERE WERE SO MANY INCREDEBLE WORKS DONE BY THOSE DAYS, WHICH SHOULD BE RETAINED BY OUR FUTURE GENERATION WHICH WILL INCULT OUR CULTURE ND TRADITION IN YOUNG MINDS. 🙂