MOTI MAHAL – A Forgotten Beauty

The City of Gwalior has been very important from the perspective of history and the buildings here give a different definition to the beauty of this city,be it the Rajput style fort here or the Italian Style Jai Villas Palace  each building is unique in itself and specially who does not know the royal style of the Scindias of Gwalior .They have many palaces in Gwalior and Moti Mahal is one of his many places which adds more glory to the story of Scindia Dynasty.

Moti Mahal Gwalior

The Moti  Mahal or Pearl Palace  is one of the historical marvels of Gwalior. It was build in 1825 by H.H. Maharaja Daulat rao Scindia the Scindia ruler of Gwalior in Hindu architectural style. This palace was built on the lines of Peshwa Mahal in Pune. Maharaja Daualatrao Scindia was very obsessed for pearls. Maharaja Daulatrao Scindia is also Known as “Motiyo Wale Raja”. He decorated thecelings of the rooms of palace with pearls and also painted the palace in white colour because he wants the palace to shine like Pearls. That’s why the Palace is called Moti Mahal. The Royal Palace is having 1203 rooms, 12 courtyards and 9 stepwells in area of 55752.14sq ft . but now  A.S.I had opened only 3 rooms for tourists.

1. Darbar Hall or Diwan-E-Aam  2. Waiting Room or Diwan-E-Khas  and  3. Raag Ragini Room.

Extension and modifications in the palace were done during the region of Maharaja Daulatrao s grandson H.H. Maharaja Jayajirao Scindia . At the time of Maharaja Jayajirao this palace was used for the official works for Scindia family. Gold has been polished on the walls of many rooms of this Palace. The gardens around  the Palace has an extensive network of Stone Fountains. Because the palace was made in hindu style it has a rich collection of wall paintings. Many of its rooms are painted with religious hindu art.

H.H. Maharaja George Jiwajirao Scindia with Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru swearing in as Rajpramukh of Madhya Bharat

After Independence the palace was also used for the Legislative Assemble of Madhya Bharat because Gwalior & Indore were became the Capital of Madhya Bharat (6 n half years Gwalior and 5 n half years Indore). At that time 22 indian princely states including Gwalior and Indore are the part of Madhya Bharat. H.H. Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia of Gwalior was appointed as Rajpramukh of Madhya bharat and H.H. Maharaja Yashwantrao Holkar of Indore was appointed as Sub Rajpramukh. The Legislative Assembly of Madhya Bharat was conducted in the court hall (Durbar Hall or Diwan-E-Aam) of Madhya Pradesh till 1958 .

Darbar Hall or Diwan-E-Aam of Moti Mahal 

The walls and roofs of Durbar hall has Golden Polish on them. The lights of the chandelier adds golden luster in the Durbar Hall. It is supposed to  that there are only two such chandeliers in the whole world, one in the Palace of the Queen of Germany and second one is here in Moti Mahal Palace. There are fountains on both sides of Diwan-E-Aam which adorns it.

Diwan-E-Khaas or Waiting room of Moti Mahal

Then the second room is known as Waiting Room or Diwan-E-Khaas. It is decorated with Minakari. It is said that pearls were placed on the ceilings of this room but after independence, government  removed the pearls and replaced glass beads but still this room looks very beautiful.

Ceilings of Moti Mahal

This Room also has a picture of Lord Krishna and Radha the speciality of it is that if you go right to left of that picture and see Krishna eyes u will feel that Krishna s eyes are moving with you.

Radha Krishna Painting

 Painitngs of Royal Scindias

And Last The third room which is Raag Raagdi Room . As Gwalior Gharana is known for classical singing and has a special contribution in Indian classical music this room is dedicated to all the musicians of Gwalior Gharana. The finest wall paintings in this room shows 6 Raags and 36 Raagdis of the Indian Classical Music.

A painitng from Raag Ragadi Room

Natural colors have been used to make these  paintings.These colours were made by grinding vegetables or grinding pulses or by grinding precious stones such as sapphires.The wall Paintings also shows the Scindian Royality, Gwalior  Dusshera festival , pictures of old Gwalior and scindia rulers. The only wall painiting museum in India.

After the formation of Madhya Pradesh in 1958, The legislative assembly was shifted to Bhopal, after which the power center of governance shifted to Bhopal. Although many offices of the State Government, Division and District level are still operating in Motimahal . The reinovation work in palace is done by INTECH company after the palace caught fire in May 2014. “Maan Sabhagaar” The Main Auditorium in the office building  is named on Maharaja Maan Singh Tomar.

Baiza Taal Gwalior

Baiza Taal a lake which was build on the name of Baiza bai raje scindia who was the 4^th and favourite wife of Maharaja Daulatrao Scindia as an amphitheatre in water adds more beauty in palace.The main offices which are operating in the building of Moti Mahal includes the commissioner of the Department of Land Records of Madhya Pradesh, Revenue Division, Commissioner Excise, Commissioner of Transportation, MP and Commissioner of Local Funds Examination and Commissioner Gwalior.

But as happened with many historical buildings this grand palace is forced to live a anonymous life today due to the ignorance of the government. A.S.I. has opened only 3 rooms for tourists the rest of the rooms are either government offices or they are dilapidated.

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