You'll be forgiven ...in believing ,I am taking you on a tour of a European palace... It is infact... a beautiful Indian treasure...a palace by the Arabian Sea.The Huzoor palace of Porbandar,Gujrat.I had a memorable tour of this palace.Its beauty completely bowled me over.And the neglect that it lies in today ... makes me nostalgic about a by gone era ... when Natwarsinhji , the then ruler of Porbandar built it. As a designer ... I hold in high regard the people who created this beautiful piece of design and architecture. As an Indian I am very proud...to share with all my readers ...another piece of our great design heritge...
...a pink dining room ... I fell in love with the damask table cloth...and the art deco chairs were very pretty in pink. Now who says pink is for barbie dolls and little girls ... there was a definite air of class in this dining room...
... the blue music room ... its here that the Maharani , played her piano and her husband played his violin ... like most of the rooms in the palace (barring a few exceptions) ... the architectual detailing is ornate and traditional European style,while the furniture very Art Deco...
... details of moulding ... cornices and elegant use of blue... (in the blue music room) ...
... an ornate chandelier ...made of onyx ( I think so ...it was difficult to make out ...with the height and the aging) and the brass hardware looked ... lovely with the green patina of tarnish over the years...
... I just loved these chairs in one of the passages ... infact the passage looked so beautiful with these chairs...
...a pair of these ivory tusks mounted on pedestals are pure grandeour ... age and neglect surely has not affected them. Behind the these tusks ... screening the lobby area from the passage are traditional Indian screens...
... on one of the sofas I saw this fascinating upholstery ... it looked aged and uncared for ...but still beautiful...
... the view of the sunroom ...I can just spend my whole life here...soooo calm ...serene..the antique furniture in white ... the centre of the room has a marble fountain ... the Corinthian pillars ...and art deco light fittings ... unbelieveable that two styles so strikingly different ... compliement each other ,so well ...
... there are no fans or airconditioning needed in the entire palace ...here in this snap you see a view of the open plan of the rooms...the sunroom done up in different shades of white ..cream...beige... with openings to adjacent rooms... a little view of the blue themed ... card and bridge room...
... I love this room...can't have enough of it...
... details of the art deco chandelier with ornate traditional moulding on the ceiling ...
... another view of the sunroom ... displayed all over the palace is a great collection of paintings ... both European and Indian ...potraits of the royal family... priceless pieces.Here you can see the room opening on to the other side to another room ...
... a closer view of the pillared arches opening the sun room to the adjacent peach room...
... I loved this view of the terrace through the dusty doors ... I can so easily close my eye and imagine the beautiful evenings of entertaining that the terrace my have seen ... while a cool sea breeze flowed through ...
... one of the many paintings adorning the walls ...
...details of the skirting level in the sunroom ... an eclectic mix of Mughal and European botanical motifs...
... an embossed glass panel door ... I couldn't get the best image of it ... but ,I had to take this snap to remember the design details... 
...the view from the peach color room ... looking towards the cream sunroom ...
...the oval library ... loaded with not just priceless antique books ... but also beauitful pieces of furniture ... the art deco style...ever so subtly co-existing with the ornate window and wall finishes ...
... one of the corners of the library ... show the details of the colors used on the walls ... I love the tone on tone effect ... which carries on into the ceiling...
... a curious looking book in the library... 'Loyal ( mind you not Royal...) Rulers and Leaders of The East'...
... another speciman of art deco style ... beautiful and elegent ... even in age and tattered upholstery... which was appeared to be a very modern design and not traditional ...
... one of the very many Indian art works ... this I think is a Pichwai...of the nathdwara school...
... heading back from the library ...towards the sunroom ... I could not help but click this...
... botanical motif details on the ceiling of the peach room ... and ofcourse the tone on tone effect ...I really found that very interesting...
... a snap shot of the blue room ... all ready for a game of bridge or cards ...
...the drawing room...I would definately love to entertain here... the sofas are upholstered in a beautiful blue and purple fabric... the walls are adorned with fine art and family portraits ... the wall sconces look like old torches ... the two round pieces on the wall ...are like trophies ... made of deer horns ...
... tucked away in a dark corner was this most interesting table ...agin a sad shot... but I had to put ths to show you the details of its base...
... four sea serpents with intertwined coils ... form the base of this magnificant piece...
... these very art deco style chairs ...were curiously upholstered in damask ... makes me wonder if they are a recent upholstery job ...
... a crystal wall sconce...it has a missing shade ... inspite of which it was an interesting piece...
... a side cainet in the general dining room ...I can go on and on about the little I saw of this beautiful ... beautiful ... beautiful ... palace ...but my camera gave way on me ... I don't even want to tell what more I could have shared ... well ...
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17 comments:
They've even got colour co-ordinated buckets to swab the floor( a pink bucket to swab around a pink sofa ... I've got so much to learn)!
And I'm drooling all over that picture of the library. I want one exactly like that and then I can die happy (die? I'd probably have to crumble to dust before they can pull me away from those lovely books in that gorgeous setting)
Lovely post, Rajee. Thanks for dropping by my blog earlier and leading me here. (hmmm, are you sure we arent some Bollywood-style twins separated at birth? Everything you had written in your profile made me nod my head and mutter, "yeah, me too!"
I was stunned by the time I completed the tour. Why did we give up building such great houses with so many decorations with intricate details and resort to the modern, boring rooms and structures! [sigh] I'm glad I click on your profile over at Sunita's
Hey Sunita... thanks, you really made me burst of laughing ... I really oved your comments here ... the way I enjoyed your blog ...we just could be... Bollywood-style twins separated at birth... who knows ... lets match up.Would love to see the face behind the lovely blog. As for the palace ...I was stunned and heartbroken at the same time...and talk about pink buckets...wellthe bathrooms had ladies loo and kiddies loo...all fit to size... and did I mention...the adults tub and the babies tubs... aaahhhh ...as for books...the treasures were all over the palace...from any room you were never more than a few meters away from a library ...beat that...
Chandramouli ...probably our older generations ...realised a thing of beauty is not bound down and debarred by cultural and national or ethnic boundries... sign... I too wish for more care to what we build these days... wonder what our children will call heritage... but then... lets be positive and try doing our bit.
Thanks again Sunita and Chandramouli ... its great to hear from both of you.
Great Pictures and a lovely place. I love the combination of pale colours. It is something I would not assoiciate with Gujerat.
And Yes I will go there some day. Thanks so much for sharing
Hey soul searcher... means a lot to know you would want to visit this place... because pictures can't do justice to the beauty of some of our precious treasures like this one ... truly hope that our nostalgia and curiosity for these places will make us do something to save them.
Thanks for dropping by.
You bet! Meeting up sometime would be fun. Hmmm... this is something worth working on!
It looks like the palace is going to trigger off many more posts from you. Go for it! I'm sure all of us would enjoy reading more about it :)
lets do some working on it then ... out of my house now will be back on the weekend... will mail you then... as always great feeling ...hearing from you...
Awesome post Rajee...thanks for sharing!
It looks like a delightful place to spend a whole day in! :) Lovely post, Rajee. I have put it on my must-visit list when I finally get to visit Gujarat!
Thanks for sharing,
Sharon
Sharon,
You are absolutely right ... infact I have decided to go check out all palaces , I can come across... it is quite a enlightening moment as a designer...thanks for dropping by and its always fun to share ...
I think the pictures of the Hazoor palace of Porbandar are simply awesome.I belong to the same clan,The Jethwas of Porbandar and these posts have brought nostalgic memories.My father as school boy spent a lot of his time in this palace with the last of the magnificent ruler H.H.Maharana Natwarsinh ji.Its a pity your camera gave way or else I would have loved to see more of Hazoor Palace.I too have been on a personal conducted tour of the palace by none other than the late and last Maharana.Would love to see more if you have them.
Hi Rajdeepsinh,
I am so glad you enjoyed the pictures ... sadly as you read this is all I could capture on my camera ... though I could have gone on all day and much longer ... there was so much to picture.But I am happy to bring back happy memories for you.Thankyou for taking the time to write your comments for me.
hello.. I'm an architecture student and a resident of porbandar only.. i have been seeing this fort since my childhood but never got a chance to see this fort from inside. i'm planning to do my dissertation on revitalization of this palace and its surrounding areas. I would like to know the procedure of permission for visiting this palace.
Hi Megha,
All the best ... and visiting it is very simple ... we walked up to their caretaker in the palace ... they have an offfice outthere ... ask at the gate... if he is free he takes you around immediately ... or else he'll give you an appointment. He is an elderly gentleman, so don't forget to show all the love for hritage and appreciate for his efforts to keep the palace well taken care off ... :)
Thanks alot. i visited the palace and its realy amazing.
Hi Rajee
I have a 200 year old indo-portuguese home in Goa.Please visit
Hi Megha,
If u visit Goa please visit my 200 year old indo portuguese home
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