“Architecture is inhabited sculpture.”
Constantin Brancusi
Mubarak Mandi, Jammu City (Part-3), Jammu & Kashmir, India
The crown of Jammu city heritage, Mubarak Mandi Palace. Spread across ~12 acres with ~25 buildings, it remains the least visited of Jammu’s illustrious heritage sites; because of dilapidated premises. Fires and earthquakes ravaged the complex over 36 times. The ASI and the Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society have now taken up its renovation with vigour.
Last week, I covered the buildings around the Central Courtyard; their usage being official. So was Durbar Hall, a meeting or entertainment venue after Indian independence. Between the Pink Hall and Durbar hall, is the Badi Deodhi. This leads to a large courtyard from where one enters the residential areas of the palace. Two-story buildings surround the courtyard on all sides.
View of Golghar
The inner large courtyard leads to the Golghar. On the banks of Tawi, it is the most dramatic location in the whole complex. There is entry restriction because of the fragility of the ruins. Ruins that tell stories of their beauty even now. A massive fire in 1984 and the 2005 earthquake destroyed most of it.
Golghar (Round House), an edifice used for entertaining the royals and their guests, has Roman architecture influence. Beautiful archways dominate the structure. It is a four-storeyed building with domes that seem to bear Islamic influence. Two of them are hemispherical while one is a saucer dome. Lotus patterns decorate the tops of the domes that have flagstaffs.
The Zenana (Ladies’ Quarters)
Nikki Deodhi is the formal entrance to the Zenana. This gateway, with its symmetrical arches and lotus-patterned balconies, leads to the ancestral temple of the Dogras. This quadrangle also houses a small shrine dedicated to Baba (Saint) Raghu. The story goes, he came as a caretaker with Queen Charak and stayed on until his last days.
Artistry on the Nikki Deodhi
The courtyard, within, has the temple, Toshakhana (Royal Treasury), the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) and the quarters of Queen Bandrali, Queen Guleri and other queens. During his reign, Raja Pratap Singh (1885-1925 AD) constructed these parts in 1917 AD.
Artistry within the Zenana
The Toshakhana has the most spectacular interiors in the entire Mubarak Mandi Complex. Artful decorations in synthetic oil paint adorn its walls and alcoves. Paintings from the Dogra School of Art (Pahari) and European wall hangings add a definitive charm. But the false ceilings bear the most poetic of decor in coloured Papier mâché. This treasury within was for the personal wealth of the rulers as against the state treasury opposite the central courtyard.
Papier Mache decor on the ceiling of Toshakhana
The second floor of the Treasury opens into a striking visage, the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors). Lithographs of European ladies and coloured cut glass work fills up each inch of the inner wall. An attached corridor offers a grand view of the River Tawi.
Exquisite cut glass work in Sheesh Mahal
Queen Bandrali was the fifth wife of his father Raja Ranbir Singh (1856-1885 AD). Her residence is in the same block as the Toshakhana. This building has carved cast-iron railings on the balconies overlooking the courtyard.
Historical records are sketchy about the other residences in the Zenana. A pathway next to the quarter of Raja Ram Singh’s queen connects the Zenana with the palaces of Queen Kathar and Queen Charak.
The Queens’ Palaces
Exquisite! One word that describes the architectural marvels – Rani Kathar’s Mahal and Rani Charak’s Mahal. Raja Pratap Singh constructed both these palaces too. Queen Kathar was his brother General Ram Singh’s wife and Queen Charak was his father’s second wife.
Queen Charak’s palace with its Rajasthani elements and mosaic patterns
Rani Charak’s Rajasthani background influenced the style of her Haveli (mansion). Ornate wooden windows with decorative cast iron brackets are signature elements of this spectacular residence. The balconies are a work of art. The exterior walls have mosaic patterns created with river stone pebbles. Although I couldn’t enter, a friendly official informed me that the mansion had marble flooring and a working lift!
The Naya Mahal with beautiful windows
Rani Kathar’s Mahal also called the Naya Mahal (New Palace). Its terrace has intricate terracotta Jaali (Latticework). We can see Chinar leaf patterns on the ground floor. Passage of time has taken its toll on the cast-iron railings that once adorned the windows of the palace, but these windows are still an awesome sight.
And with this, the grand tour of Mubarak Mandi Palace comes to a reluctant end. The history of this place covers two centuries, and no amount of prose can do justice to the poetic imagery it portrays.
