BANGALORE PALACE: History, Architecture And A Spanish Gift

We finally managed to visit the Bangalore palace! It is a little shameful since we have been living in the city for a couple of years now. Don’t get me wrong. The palace has always been on our bucket list. Life and traffic however got in the way.

If you’ve been to Bangalore, you definitely know what I mean when I say that traffic is a deterrent! Especially if you stay outside the city.

Anyway… Back to the topic at hand. Let’s talk about whether it is worth visiting the Bangalore palace? Should you brave the traffic? What’s the palace like? We had so many questions and I am sure you do too. So, let’s take the plunge, shall we?

The History Of The Bangalore Palace

The Bangalore palace is located in the heart of the city. The story behind the palace is rather intriguing. The Maharajah (which means King) Chamarajendra Wadiyar 10 was a minor in 1873 when the property was bought.

His guardians bought it in his name in 1873 since he did not have a suitable place to stay in Bangalore during his training. The property was then transformed, and the construction of the palace began in April 1874. It was completed four years later.

Today the palace is an iconic spot for tourists to visit in the city. I still remember visiting it as a child. Since some memories deserve to be relived and rewritten, Shawn and I headed to the Bangalore palace recently with our three-month-old daughter.

Navigating The Bangalore Palace With Kids, Elderly And Disabled

The Bangalore palace is huge and beautiful. Getting around the palace is easy. If you do need ramps and elevators/escalators to move around, you will find that most of the palace is inaccessible to you. There are a number of staircases that you have to go up and down and quite a bit of walking.

If you are heading there with a baby, keep the pram in the car and think of using a baby carrier like we did. Definitely easier to move around. This is especially true if you head there on a day when it is crowded.

Timings Of The Bangalore Palace

One thing that you should always do when heading out to any spot in Bangalore is to check the timings. The same is true for the Bangalore Palace. From what we were given to understand, the palace is open every day from 10 am to 5:30 pm.

The palace hosts weddings, events, concerts etc. It is also closed on public holidays. You may want to keep that in mind.

How To Reach The Bangalore Palace

The Bangalore palace is located at the heart of the city. It is a popular landmark in the city, so you will definitely not have any trouble finding directions to it. Most people rely on Uber or tuk-tuks/autorickshaws to get them around the city area.

If you are coming from a place that isn’t quite central you may want to consider taking the metro to the closest stop and then switching. This helps you avoid traffic.

The Tickets To The Bangalore Palace

The Ticket counter in the Bangalore palace.

One thing that we soon realized is that the cost of the tickets to the palace is really expensive when compared to other monuments that you may visit in the country. This is true for both Indians and foreigners alike.

I know for a fact that the ticket price is a big dissuading factor among people visiting the city. I’m just going to jot down the prices so that you know just how much you need to budget for it, if you want to visit the palace.

Indians: 230 INR/person

Foreigners: 460 INR/person

Cameras are also charged depending on the type you want to use. This includes mobile cameras. Yes! You read right. Mobile cameras are also charged.

Mobile camera: 285 INR

Still camera: 685 INR

Video camera: 1485 INR

They did mention that a group had to pay only once for mobile cameras. So, there is that. An odd rule but a welcome respite I would guess if you are travelling with a large group and everyone wants to use their cameras.

Once you have paid the ticket, you are given ID bands which are colour coded. Pink bands are the ones who haven’t paid for cameras and purple are the ones who have.

The tickets can be bought at the entrance of the palace. There is a table that is set up and it is a shaded area to stand in, incase the line gets too long. We had no problem and had just four or five people ahead of us. They also have a water dispenser where you can catch a drink if you are thirsty.

Entering The Bangalore Palace

The first hall that we entered was dark and dimly lit or so it felt. Truth be told, it was probably the bright afternoon sun that blinded us a bit. Give your eyes a little while to acclimatize before rushing ahead like most of the people in the crowd.

The room itself is gorgeous with a high wooden ceiling. The walls are yellow and are accented by white paint which highlights the designs on the wall. I found this to be one of the prettiest rooms in the palace. Much overlooked but not without its own charm.

Note: The toilets are in this section and are reasonably clean in case you need to use them.

Audio Guides

One thing that I can say with certain is that the audio guides that are provided by the Bangalore palace are really worth standing in line for. The second room that you enter is overwhelming. There is so much to take in all at once. I think the first thing that my eyes focused on was the elephant in the room, but I digress.

On your left-hand side, you will find a table set up where audio guides are available. The audio guides are free if you deposit an identity proof which has an address on it.

The other alternative is to pay a cash deposit of 2000 INR or $40 or 40 Euros. The deposit amount will be returned on return of the audio device.

The audio guides are available in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Let’s Talk About The Elephant In The Room

The elephant in the room at the Bangalore palace.

I found the room where you get the audio guides the most overwhelming because there is so much to concentrate on and so much to take in. Your attention however cannot help but be drawn to the huge elephant head that hangs on the wall.

One of the things that I have realized is how normal it seems. It is almost expected since you see these gentle giants mounted and preserved in so many places. Seeing the majestic creature up there definitely makes a statement but it saddened me. I wish we could say that elephants (and other animals) are treated better in this day and age but sadly they are not.

The next thing that will catch your eye is the ornate staircase. Made of wood, this staircase curves and makes a statement of its own. The railings of the staircase have beautiful carvings and each intricate detail is almost too much to take in. I personally love the contrast that the brown wood makes against the yellow walls. It makes it look so royal.

Numerous photographs of the past rulers are mounted on the wall. The audio guide will provide you information on many of them and if you are a history buff, I would highly recommend listening to the whole segment. One noteworthy part that could really be missed as you walk is the large box shaped structure in the left corner near the audio guide area. It looks as if the room was partitioned there. In reality, it houses the first elevator in Bangalore.

Seeing How Royalty Entertained Royalty

Entertaining royalty in the Bangalore palace.

The next hall is a rather lavish one. This one too has a high ceiling, beautiful white arches, chandeliers and furniture which was specially designed for the room at that time. It is here that you will catch a glimpse of the coat of arms which was awarded to the Maharaja Chamaraja Wadiyar X by the British while they were in rule.

The Ganda Bherunda or a mythological two headed bird (which was the emblem of the Wadiyar empire) is situated in the center of the coat of arms. Another mythological animal which has the head of an elephant and body of a lion flanks the Ganda Bherunda on either side.

The coat of arms is prominently displayed. In fact, the white and red combination that is used to paint the emblems makes a stark contrast with yellow of the walls.

The Gift From The King Of Spain

The tiled courtyard in the Bangalore palace.

While there is much to see, it is hard to chronicle everything in a single post. A noteworthy area is a courtyard that will come into sight as you head through the palace. Your first glimpse of the courtyard will be from the floor above.

A number of articles of interest decorate the corridors above. A couple of things however made me cringe. Like the stool that was made from the foot of an elephant or how the feet of another animal were used for another stool. The Wadiyar kings loved to hunt and, in the days gone by, the Indian forests gave them a chance to do just that.

Anyway, let’s get back to what I was talking about. The courtyard below is rather striking. A fountain lies at its center and there are two benches where you can sit. Each decorated with beautiful tiles that were a gift from the King of Spain.

The audio guide informed us that the King of Spain had paid a visit to the Bangalore palace and had fallen in love with the courtyard because it reminded him of home. It was for this precise reason that he had the tiles sent for.

The Second Courtyard

There is a second courtyard that you will note from above (it is actually the first that you will step into). This one isn’t as colourful but like the other one, it too has a fountain at its center. The courtyard has a number of plants and is very cool. It is here that the women of the palace sat and talked before joining the men in the afternoon. You will find this spot peaceful and calm.

The Famous Silk

You have probably heard about the famous Mysore silk. The Wadiyar family are big supporters of the silk manufacturing process. A room in the palace is dedicated for storing and displaying clothes made of the finest silk that the state has to offer. While it is hard to discern a lot since most of them are stacked one on top of the other, it is still impressive to think of how much they accumulated over time.

The Bangalore Palace Gardens

A glimpse of the Bangalore palace from the gardens.

I think that one of my favourite areas in the Bangalore palace were out in the palace gardens. Surprisingly, we found that the gardens were not very crowded. Most people step out for a photograph of the vine covered walls of the palace before quickly heading back in and completing their tour.

We however wandered onto the manicured walls and spent a little time taking in the view. The gardens offer an unobstructed view of the façade of the palace and it is also one of the best places to capture the palace in a single frame.

The palace is one of a number of things to do in Bangalore. If you are headed to the city and have not yet figured out an itinerary, I would suggest taking a look at our post on how to spend a day in Bangalore. It has a lot of options that you can choose from such that it caters to your individual preferences.

Have you ever visited the Bangalore palace? Or is it on your bucket list? Do let us know in the comments below.

If you are in the area, don’t forget to check out the Bangalore sightseeing tours that are organized. You can even book them online.

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