Umaid Bhawan Palace Heritage Hotel

Umaid Bhawan Palace can qualify for several firsts: the largest private residence in the world, the finest extant example of art-deco, the only palace to have paintings from the Ramayana painted by a Polish artist, the first to use air-conditioning, electricity and elevators, and the most impressive for its size and dimensions. Yet, that should be hardly strange, for the architect, H.V. Lancaster, who planned it, wanted it to rival the Viceregal Lodge (now Rashtrapati Bhawan) then being planned by Sir Edward Lutyens in the new capital at New Delhi, also then under construction.

Attractions Within The Heritage Palace - Hotel Umed Bhavan Palace
For starters, Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur is a formal building that is perfectly symmetrical, and its 347 rooms offer few concessions to Rajput architecture other than such devises as concealed corridors and balconies for the women of the 'Zenana', and the use of courtyards around which the several wings of the palace are arranged. Built at the height of the art deco period, there are several embellishments on the outer walls, such as the eagle carved from sandstone. All original fittings have been retained.

While many of its accoutrements are in use, others have been placed in a museum within the premises. Here, you can find out for yourself the fine china used by the royal family, trace the history of the clocks and telephones that were once put to use in the different rooms, and discover a bit of your own past in a nostalgia driven journey through a time not so long ago.

Fittingly, you can end the journey in a room of your own, one of 95, in Hotel Umed Bhawan Palace.