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The Regal Lalitha Mahal Palace
By Arathi Srikantaiah

As our train came to a rumbling halt at our destination, we got a feeling that we were about to be transported to a different time and place. In stark contrast to the neighboring Bangalore (the fastest growing city in Asia), where just a couple of hours back, we had inched our way on crowded roads to barely make it to the Mysore bound train, life was moving in a refreshingly smooth way as we stepped outside the railway station.

We hailed an autorickshaw (auto) to take us to our hotel. Along the ride, the small town atmosphere was everywhere. It was hard to believe that Mysore was the seat of power of the legendary empire of the Wadiyars for five centuries. But as we left the suburbs, and entered the city, the city of palaces unfolded before us; we saw a succession of beautiful buildings that seemed to pop right out of the pages of a history book. When we asked our auto driver about them, he just shrugged and said that, "they were just a bunch of government buildings."

In this formerly royal city, opulence is often taken for granted; it is not very unusual to see a palace or a fort perched on top of a hill, in almost every part of the city. However, other than the main palace of the city, the Lalitha Mahal is perhaps the most regal, in this city of palaces.

In the year1920, Sri Krishna Raja Wadiyar, the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, hired a British architect named, E.W. Fritchley to design a special palace to house his royal guests, the most important one being the Viceroy of India. Today, the Lalitha Mahal, which literally means "beautiful building", is a 54 room five star hotel run by the Indian Tourist Development Corporation.

When our auto brought us to the portico of the Lalitha Mahal, it was hard for us to not be awed by this magnificent building. Commanding our immediate attention was a white symmetrical structure that spread over 300 feet in length, between two domed towers which rose some 90 feet above the ground. Set in a sprawling terraced garden and acres of greenery surround this garden, the palace structure had a dominating central dome flanked by four secondary towers, and a colonnaded façade of coupled Corinthian columns.

After being welcomed by the turbaned Durban with the traditional Namaste, we were led to the reception and the lobby for the check-in. If the lobby of a hotel should make a statement about a hotel, then this one reverberated with the elegance of a bygone era. The circular lounge was a magnificent space right under the central dome of the building. Polished marble floors, painted and chandeliered ceilings, life size portraits of the royalty, antique furniture, and a huge elephant carved of rosewood and ivory graced this regal space. A bifurcated marble staircase, which was the focal point of this lobby, literally swept one up to the grand upper floors of the building. If climbing the stairs was too daunting a task, there was an alternative in the quaint elevator, which was manned by a turbaned service man, and equipped with a seat upholstered in velvet.

Even though the lobby was magnificent, we could hardly wait to see the place where we would be king, queen, and prince for a day. Our suite had a very generously proportioned living space that led into a bedroom on the left through a colonnaded archway, and to the dress and the bathroom on the right. All the furniture pieces were genuine antiques, and made out of either rosewood or teakwood. Black and white lithographs depicting the colonial raj era graced the walls. The 25 foot high ceilings, the Persian rugs, and the rosewood wainscoting added to the grandeur of the space.

After freshening up, we went to the Tea Lounge for a light snack of vegetable pakoras, and coffee. We did not eat at the palace restaurant, but managed to peek into it. The restaurant was originally the Banquet Room of the palace, a grand space done up in blue and white, with dining areas under stained glass domes.

After a sojourn into the city of Mysore for some sight-seeing, we were back at our palace room for a good nights rest. Falling asleep on the sumptuous four poster bed, after devouring the chocolate mints on the marble nightstand set a stage for a night filled with pleasant dreams.

Morning arrived ever too quickly, and after taking our time to get dressed for the day in the elaborate all marble bathroom and dressing space with gilt framed Belgian mirrors, it was almost time for us to check out of the hotel. Just before checking out, we were treated to a mini- magic show by a self appointed entertainer named Babu, of the palace in exchange for a few dollars.

It is said that the past always is related to the present. The Lalitha Mahal, while maintaining its place as a witness to a gracious time in history, offers a glimpse of princely living to anyone who chooses to stay there, even today. It has been about seven months, but the 24th of August spent in the august surroundings of the Lalitha Mahal will forever be etched in our minds.

Final Note
Post Independence in India, when the princely states were dissolved, and the royal families lost their traditional means of income, most of these families abandoned their castles and palaces, and migrated to cities in search of other means of livelihood.

In a developing country like India, preservation of historical buildings is only given marginal priority by the government. The only means of preserving, and maintaining these castles and palaces was to convert them into hotels, and give them a new lease of life. And so, by staying in a place like the Lalitha Mahal by paying $120/night, not only do we get to stay like a Maharaja for a day, but we also actually help preserve a piece of world history.

For more information about the Lalitha Mahal, or to plan a stay there, please visit http://www.lalithamahalpalace.com/index.htm

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