Bundi Palace (Garh Palace)

Clinging to the hillside below Taragarh Fort, the Garh Palace of Bundi is a wonderful jumble of ochre-and-grey stone, carved balconies, elephant-flanked gateways and turrets that seem to grow straight out of the rock. Rudyard Kipling, who stayed here, wrote that it looked like the work of goblins rather than men, and the description still fits the palace's wild, romantic silhouette.

The palace's crowning glory is the Chitrashala, an open gallery whose walls and ceilings are covered in exquisite murals painted in the celebrated Bundi school style. Rendered in cool blues and greens, they depict Krishna legends, royal processions, hunting scenes and courtly life in astonishing detail. Other highlights include the Ratan Daulat, the Chhatra Mahal and the Badal Mahal, each with its own painted treasures.

For anyone exploring Bundi tourist places, the Garh Palace is the heart of the experience and one of the best reasons to make the short trip from Kota. Come with time to linger, as the murals reward slow, careful looking.

History of Bundi Palace (Garh Palace)

The Garh Palace was constructed in stages from the early 17th century onward, begun under Rao Ratan Singh and greatly expanded by his successors, notably Rao Chhatra Sal and Rao Umed Singh. Each ruler added his own apartments and painted chambers, so the palace grew organically down the hillside over roughly two centuries.

Bundi developed a distinctive school of miniature painting that flowered under royal patronage, and the murals of the Chitrashala, mostly dating from the 18th century, are considered its supreme achievement. Unlike many Rajput palaces, Bundi never fell to Mughal domination in the same way, which helped its art retain a strong local character.

Highlights

• Chitrashala painted gallery
• Blue-and-green Bundi-school murals
• Hathi Pol (elephant gate)
• Badal Mahal and Chhatra Mahal
• Views over the blue city