Bangalore Palace

The build of the Bangalore palace was started in 1862 - and was intended for 'just' a school principal. In 1873 though it was bought by the British state who was responsible for the upkeep of the loyal prince and hence needed a house for him to stay at. So since 1874 the house is in the hands of the Royal Family of Mysore (Hindus). Building works where not completed till 1944 so it is a reasonably modern building that looks somewhat like Windsor Castle. 

Inside the museum appears to be mainly focussed at celebrating the grand life of the Maharajas of Mysore with loads of statues, pictures, trophies etc etc. Entrance prices are steep at INR 400 or 500 for foreigners and just INR 100 for Indian nationals and with a camera fee of INR 650 per camera. Despite those charges and the venue being used for concerts and horse races (the gardens and land around the palace) it is still in a somewhat dilapidated state.

The giant Elephant head, a hunting trophy, is impressive but also cracked in quite a few places.

The grand room is nice with chandeliers in many different colors but also only 1 of the few rooms with furniture in it to look at or even open.

The grand staircase

Baby Duuk soaking up the culture in his hometown (pictures are from Monday April 22nd so he is already bigger again!) showing us one of his first laughs or grins. The museum offers an audio tour which is very fancy but maybe a little too detailed.

The whole place is covered in hunting pictures & trophies.

and the outbuildings hint at how nice the place must have been some years back but are now deserted, overgrown and not open to visitors.

The carriages look quite nice from far off but also are in bad shape with the 1 or 2 best ones (not pictures) used for tourist horse drawn carriage trips over the grounds.

To pay the bills the place is also used to shoot movies and filming was in progress in the courtyard of the family quarters, there where the maharaja spend his time with the ladies from the Zenana, the day we where there.

Duuk tried for a long time to stay awake and take it all in but fell asleep in the end whilst we dutifully tried to follow the audio tour.

 The use of teh palace grounds for horses and horse racing is of all times as the old Jockey chair to weigh and measure them shows.

 Not very impressive compared to most of the gorgeous buildings the royals in India have built over the centuries but in our backyard and interesting enough to make for a fun few hours.