Monday, January 20, 2014

MY VISIT TO THE MUBARAK MANDI PALACE.

MUBARAK MANDI PALACE ,is located  in the old city limit of Jammu. Not much heard or told off ,But I found it quite interesting to make a visit to the palace.  We took the Gujar nagar section drive from Gandhinagar ,Jammu .... it goes thru' narrow bylanes ,zig zag cuts across the hills after crossing the new Tawi bridge.......................it took us almost 30mins to reach the place;On the way comes Peer Kho ,the oldest Shiva temple of the Jammu region. The view of Tawi river as we drove thru' was too good...
   Mubarak Mahal palace was the royal residence of the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir from the Dogra Dynasty. It was their main seat until 1925.,when Maharaja Hari Singh shifted to Harinivas Palace in the northern part of Jammu City.The Palace overlook the R. Tawi. The Architecture is a mix of Rajasthani and European baroque and Mughal style.
    Now adays, a section of the palace houses govt. offices, courts and Dogra  museum. However, other parts of the palace are in ruins as the palace had been an witness to fire 36 times & earthquake too. The Dogra museum is situated in the pink hall and has a rich collection of miniature paintings belonging to Kangra & Basohli school of art. Theres a temple of shiva amidst the ruins of the palace with a golden throne.