The Lal Bagh Palace

An underrated and usually left unseen palace in Madhya Pradesh is Lal Bagh palace in Indore which was built between 1883 and 1921 by a string of Holkar rulers. The royal family of Holkars lived here till 1975. Its construction completed during the reign of Raja Tukoji holkar III .

              The palace is not an extravaganza when seen from outside, for its comparatively smaller size to the other grand palaces and forts of India  , but inside is a shear treat of architecture and interior design.

While entering through the main entrance you cannot help noticing the grand cast iron gate , only a section of which is open to let the vehicles  and people in.

Gates of the Lal Bagh

This gate is a replica of Buckingham Palace which is more than twice larger then this .

Front view of the Lal bagh palace

    Past the gate begins a drive through the large garden spread over almost 28 hectares . The garden lacks attention and is not impressive, though its size is grand .
     The palace looks neat with a small porch and a geometrically balanced building.


                Entering within one can see a statue of a Holkar  ruler in center and two beautiful Brass lamps with astounding grape vine carvings. Through the arch door one enters into the lobby. The entire flooring of which is made of marble. Single cut marble pillars are astonishingly paired with wooden carved panels in between.

The lobby

              Beyond the lobby are morning room , library , study and other sitting rooms. All doors have small wooden carving panels . This type of wood carving on panels is called Rococo ,which is a French decorative art. The Mahal is a good and only example of this art used in Indian monuments. Decor is  lavish . The palace is a confluence of Indian and European decor like none other..
           Most of the rooms of the place has Chandeliers , and carved panels on the walls. Each furniture setting is different from the other and even the ceilings are heavily ornamented.
         There are two dining rooms , one with tables and chairs based on  western style dinning setting and another with Indian style settees. The Indian style dining room is beautiful and has a unique texture on walls.
           The most beautiful room of the palace is the Throne Hall. It is big ,airy and well lighted by natural light. It has a fresco on the sealing and a carpet on the floor, depicting the same scene as on fresco . It seems the idea of it is to symbolically show the refection of ceiling on the floor.It is heavily decorated with golden wood panels and chandeliers.

Throne hall at Lal bagh

        Another unique fact about the palace is that it does not have a kitchen. There was a brook flowing at the back of the palace and the kitchen is beyond that brook (unfortunately now in a bad shape). It had a bridge through which trolleys of food can be sent to the palace.
          Other rooms includes bathroom made entirely in marble , a saloon , bedrooms of the king and the queen and other rooms which are converted to exhibiting areas of paintings and coins. The palace's backyard has garden , fountains and a statue of queen Victoria.

The back of the Lal bagh Palace
It has a large porch , driveway
and a garden

Garden and the statue of queen victoria

The center piece of a fountain
in the back garden

 opening time- 11 am
closing time - 6 pm
Price of the ticket - Rs 5 for Indians and Rs 100 for foreigners.

The Rasgulle wala of Indore

                                             
    Indore is a paradise for the food lovers . I havent seen so much of variety in food (read good food ) in any other city. Here is a shop called ' Rasgulley wala ' which is famous for its  syrup sweets.  This shop is exclusively built for the sugar syrup sweets which includes Rasgulla , Gulab Jamun , Raj Bhog  and Ras Malai . The shop is situated at the Gitabhavan area of Indore and been there for more than a 15 years. people from all walk of life can be seen here enjoying a plater full of sweets or getting pieces packed for home to enjoy with their family .

Rasgullas and Gulab Jamuns

                  The moment we enter here the smell of milk and processing chenna can be sensed in the air . The speciality of Gulab Jamun here is that unlike of other places the sugar syrup is light and medium sweet, the gulab jamun balls are very soft and almost melts in your mouth . Rasgullas are tender and sweet and even eating ten would not harm as the sugar content is subtle to suit all. Each piece of Rasgulla and Gulab Jamun cost Rs 5 /- only , whereas Rajbhog and Ras malai each plate cost Rs 20 per plate ( 2 pieces). Raj bhog is a variety of rasgulla and is made from chenna . it is chenna balls stuffed with dry fruits  and flavored with kesar . It is not served with sugar syrup , rather wth sweetened and kesar flavored milk. 
    If you have a sweet tooth and you are in Indore this is an ultimate destination for traditional wet sweets.

Introduction

Indore is the mini Mumbai of M.P. There is so much happening here that it can never be written  in a single post .This series is all about Indore , its delicacies and its legacies .

                                                       Indore's past

         Indore was the capital of the Maratha empire of Holkars. The founder of Holkar dynasty was Malhar Rao Holkar who rose from peasant origin to higher ranks. The last ruler of Holkars was Yashwant Rao Holkar. The royal palace of Holkars is Rajwada and there is another palace  in Lal Bagh. Indore grew into a city during the rein of queen Ahilaya Bai Holkar.

              Indore has  musical heritage , it is one of the vocal Gharanas of Indian Classical music and was founded by Ustad Amir Khan.

Devi Ahilaya Bai Holkar 

Maharaja Yaswant Rao Holkar

                

                                                              

         
      Indore today
 Indore is the most fast developing city of Madhya Pradesh , it has its own IIT and IIM.  The city is a hub of educational institutes and rare professional courses are also available. TCS is soon opening its branch here.
             The city is full of youngsters. People here are fun loving and foodie. It has palaces , pubs, sports centers , parks ,market , and the best food in India. People here loves to experiment and spend money on luxuries which has attracted moto giants like KTM and AUDI , renowned designer Satya Paul  has his exclusive showroom in Indore.
         

      

                             How to reach Indore

Indore being centrally located is connected to all big cities through railway , road and air routes.    

                             Scope for investments

 A good venture related to food, flourishes in Indore . However the location and the type of food served plays a crucial role. If a restaurant is famous for a certain dish , then the crowd will always prefer that , so it is very important to add uniqueness in services and food to attract people . 

               The investments in real estate can be profitable. The rate of property centrally located within the city is very high ,though the city is still spreading and new areas having reasonable property rate are available.