The finest
Palace of Rajpipla is
the Indrajeet
Padmini Mahal,
better known as Vadia
Palace as the entire village
of Vadia was demolished and re-located
to build this palace in
the 1930s. The palace was set
in a 151 acre estate,
with well laid out formal
gardens and mango-and-lime orchards,
and the building itself
covered almost 4320 sq yards.
It was financed by Maharajah
Vijay Sinhji's winnings at the Epsom
Derby and cost around
Rs.40 lakhs(Rs.4 million). The building
was designed by Shapoorji
Curimbouy &
co in a predominantly Indo-Saracenic
style, with a few western
features. Inside, however, retains
much of the European character
one would expect from
a Palace erected during
the 1930s and '40s. Much of
the flooring is in Italian
marble of different colors
arranged in various geometric
patterns, such that no
two rooms or galleries are
floored alike. At the
rear is a marble fountain
with intricate patterns matching
the flooring of the gallery
in which it is situated.
Over 1000 wooden doors and
windows of the Palace
were made from Burma teak. The
Palace was centrally air-conditioned,
with ducts still visible
on the walls. It had 11
bedrooms-9 distributed in the
2 storey of the Palace,
a sub-terrenean chamber and a
suite facing the terrace-all
with baths attached. The ballroom
had a Burma teak flooring,
the sitting room was done
up in wall paintings of
dancing girls, the bar room
muralled with drunk monkeys,
the drawing room had
beautiful paintings of events
from lord Krishna's lifetime,
the prayer room has a
series of wall and ceiling frescoes
of Hindu deities, the
reception behind the portico
is painted with floral
and faunal subjects. As at
the Natvar
Niwas, the
painting was done by Italian
artist Wali, yet the quality
of Indian devotional paintings
and other local themes is flaw-less.
The drawing room was illuminated
with lights concealed in
marble globes, which were
filled also with exotic
perfumes. A water circulation
system revolved the marble globes
such that the scent of the
perfumes spread in the hall.
Elevator took the royal
family and their guests
up to the first floor
and on the terrace The kitchen was
in an out-house, partially submerged
so that it did not
spoil the view from the
galleries or from the
intricate rear facade of
the Palace. A 30 yard
long insulated passage, took
food in trolleys to the
pantry in the main building.
The Palace is now the
Forest Ranger's College and
an Ayurvedic
(Pharmacy) College Other Palaces of
Rajpipla are now educational and government institutions.
The Summer Villa Guest House (now Arts and Science College)
was constructed at Rajpipla by Maharaja Vijay
Singhji in around
1930’s specially to provide star-rated accommodation
for his European guests,
It has two spiral wooden staircases, leading to
upper floor. The symmetrical architecture with
arches on both sides of passages, Italian marble
flooring and plaster of Paris false ceilings still
exists. |