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.