Umaid Bhawan Palace is one of the largest residential palaces belonging to the royals of Rajasthan. The present owner of the palace is Gaj Raj Singh, a descendant of Maharaja Umaid Singh. It is sited on Chittar hill on the outskirts of Jodhpur city. Interestingly, it is the only palace built in the 20th century. A large part of it is converted into a Heritage hotel which is also awarded as the World's best hotel at the Travelers’ Choice Award, organized by TripAdvisor.
In the 1920s, Jodhpur suffered adverse drought and famine for three years in a row. The farmers went to King Umaid Singh, the 37th Rathore ruler of Marwar at Jodhpur for seeking help. In order to help them, the king ordered the construction of Umaid Bhawan Palace for providing them employment. He commissioned Henry Vaughan Lanchester as the lead architect. The construction was deliberately done at a slow pace to serve the main purpose. The construction of the palace started in the year 1929 and continued till 1943.
The palace is a majestic blend of Western technology and Indian architectural features. It extends in an area of 26 acres of which 15 acres are covered by beautifully maintained gardens. It also houses a museum where you can take a peek at the history relating to the 20th century of the royal family. With an estimated cost of approximately 11 million rupees, it was opened in 1943 as one of the world’s largest private residences. It comprises of 347 rooms, courtyards and a large banquet hall which could accommodate 300 people. Dun-colored sandstone, makrana marble and Burmese teak wood were used in making of the structure. It represents a magnificent amalgam of Indo-Saracenic, Classical Revival and Western Art Deco styles.
In 1971, Gaj Singh II decided to convert a part of the palace into a hotel. Today, it is categorized into three parts - private residence of the royal family, a luxury Taj Palace Hotel and a museum. Maharaja Gaj Singh, also known as ‘bapji’, lives in a part of the palace. One of the striking features is 103 ft. high inner vaulted dome covered by another 43 ft. high dome. The hotel part of the palace is administered by the Taj Group of Hotels and is called the 'Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace Jodhpur’. The museum is themed on the 20th-century history of the royal family. You will see exhibits like a huge symbolic flag given to Maharaja Jaswant Singh by Queen Victoria in 1877, lighthouse shapes, even the vintage cars used by Maharajas.
MarcoFrance1965
UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE !
I just came back from a 12 days Rajasthan tour. It was just myself and my 14 year olde daughter. I found Caper surfing the web and had non suggestion from friends and had never read comments or reviews about it. Totally "blind-choice". I was very lucky. The organization was really excellent. The agent that followed us, Mr. Praveen Juyal did a great job. I decided our itinerary and he punctually gave me suggestions on the best management of my choices. The hotel choice was fine and confirmed expectations. We had tour guides in every site seeing location and they were all extremely professional, very punctual and really kind and polite.
But I must say that what made the trip even better was our driver; Mr. Deshraj.
One of those persons that you really wish you could meet once in your life. Not only an excellent driver but always helpful, respectful and friendly. He explained us many things about Indian life along the journey and sometimes stopped for short breaks in beautiful places on the road that were not even mentioned in the guide books. My only regret is that at the end of the trip I didn't have much money left and I left a tip probably not adeguate for the kind of service but I will definitely send him try to sort this maybe in a next trip. Thank you very much Caper and Deshraj.
Dreamer802943
A Memorable Trip
We recently concluded a 12 day driving tour of New Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan with Caper Travel. It was most enjoyable !! The logistics arrangements were excellent - from tour planning , hotel selection , vehicle condition to driver. Mr Alok handled the planning, and Mr Vikram was our Tempo driver throughout the journey. Mr Vikram was very helpful , accommodating and patient throughout the tour, despite long hours of driving on the roads ( not to mention India traffic}. We would not hesitate to recommend Caper to our fellow travellers who are thinking of visiting India. Thank You Caper !
goochie33, London, United Kingdom
Golden triangle goa and mumbia
Just come back from an amazing 2 week trip to India. First we done the golden triangle which we chose to do the train trip from Delhi to Agra a must you have to do if not just for the experience. All the cities were wonderful but be prepared to see lots of temple one seems to run into another but wow the taj was my highlight along with the Hindu temple in Delhi. The driving the cows the dogs are everywhere are all an experience. Goa was beautiful we stayed at the taj exotica. In mumbia we done a city tour and ended our trip in the taj for afternoon tea another must. It is a exhilarating trip but one I will never forget. From booking with Manika to all the drivers and guides they were always there to meet us from the airport and hotels on time. They really looked after us thank you all.
Aileen M
Wonderful trip
We have just returned from our first trip to India and we must say it was absolutely fascinating. The itinerary was first class and covered everything we could have wished for. On arrival we were met by a very nice rep and driver who took us to our hotel and sorted out the necessary paperwork with us. We had our driver Vishan for our time in the north and he was terrific, kept the vehicle spotless and kept us supplied with water. We then flew to the south of India and met up with our driver Suhdeer who again was very nice and very informative about things as we drove along. The guides we had on all our trips were excellent and again very informative.
The only down side to it all was that in our package we paid for the drivers accommodation, food and allowance only to find out that the drivers don’t receive this money and if they want accommodation they have to pay for it themselves. We ended up paying one of our drivers an amount for the nights that we had him for him to get somewhere to sleep and food as we were concerned that if he slept in his car he wouldn’t be rested enough to take on the next day driving for 4-5 hours.
All in all Caper Travel are excellent in their planning and can’t fault them for that.
Urquiola, New York City, New York
Caper travel
Recently traveled to India on a private guided tour with Caper Travel. Ms. Mumtaz Khan worked with me on arranging my itinerary.
She was always available to answer all my concerns immediately. On my arrival in Delhi I was welcome with warm smile at the airport by a young gentleman name Kapol Joshi . My experience with the company was amazing and I would highly recommend to anyone traveling to India.
I would also like to mention the personal attention I received at Amritsar by Aman Shara and his lovely wife who welcomed me and my son to their home
and soon to open their beautiful hotel.
Any Query? Please write us at info@india-travel-packages.in
