Thursday, July 21 2005 17:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: The Bangalore Palace, modelled on the famous Windsor Palace in England is undergoing a massive restoration work and is expected to be open to the public in the next two months.

Heritage lovers can soon have a glimpse from the pages of history as the Bangalore palace, capturing a part of vintage England with its fortified towers, turrets, and its aesthetical Gothic architecture, will be open to the public after an official opening ceremony soon.

"I am planning to ask the chief minister to come and inaugurate the palace, parts of which have been painstakingly restored, keeping the original ambience in mind", scion of the erstwhile Mysore Royal family, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, told reporters in Bangalore today (July 21, 2005).

The palace fell into a state of neglect following a dispute between the government and the Wodeyar over its ownership. However, with part of it restored to the family now, Wodeyar has chalked out a grandiose plan to restore the Tudor edifice into its pristine glory by undertaking massive restoration work of the upholstery, woodwork, artefacts, paintings and landscaping.

Refusing to divulge the estimated budget to restore the piece of vintage history he said, "I can't quote any figures. I am paying workers on a daily basis. I am examining in detail the damage done and ordering for material and getting in-house carpenters, workers and others to work on it", he said.

Clarifying that the restoration work would be done on a conservative budget, he said that the work on the Mysore Palace was completed in roughly Rs 3.2 crores.

The restoration work of the 45,000 square feet palace, built on 428 acres of land, is expecting to be completed in seven to eight months, Wodeyar said.

But work on the `Ball room', which captures a piece of old England with its rose wood flooring, its massive teakwood doors and ornate carving on the ceilings, has been completed and would be thrown open to private parties interested in holding events and for public viewing

The wooden floor has been redone and polished, he said adding chandeliers have been installed and interesting artefacts put up. The quaint durbar has also been done up with crimson red carpets, pastel-shaded upholstery and paintings of women. The rose wood bannister lined with statues of sinewed men and a bust of one of the royal scions, also captures the ambience of the past, when politics, business, art and literature were debated in the palace.

Nearly 1000 photographs out of the 30,000 personal collection of Wodeyar, capturing some light family moments, historic events, photogenic faces and profile of the Wodeyar family, would also be on display, he said.

Most of the paintings, however, he lamented had been damaged with little hope for restoration. But the optimistic scion has decided to do up the place with his personal collection of painting. "The restoration work is being done piece-by-piece, with all efforts to keep its original ambience in place", he said while informing that no professionals have been hired for the job.

"I am doing it myself, because I know how the place looked then. I think all you need is some common sense to do it up", he said.

"For the stained glass work, we are actually trying to procure old glass from other structures to retain the original ambience in place. We have even tried to get similar upholstery and redo wood work by getting old wood, cutting it to size and fitting it", Wodeyar said.

Following the rennovation, the palace would be rented out for parties and events for an estimated price of Rs one to two lakh per day. Visitors could also carry home a piece of English history and the Bangalore palace by purchasing souvenirs like brass door handles, ancient foot rest, embossed plaques. Those interested could even drop into the in-house boutique, storing the rich textile of Karnataka.

Photocopies of photographs, postcard pictures, scarfs carrying the royal emblem would be up for sale. Tickets to be priced at Rs 100 for adults, Rs 50 for a child and Rs 200 for foreign tourist was aimed at bringing revenues which would be invested for restoration work. Concessions for educational institutions, free admission to physically challenged, are also planned, he said.

"We plan to position it as a major tourist destination and as a live-in palace. Though not all parts would be thrown open to public, most of it would", he said.

As the palace, built by King Chamaraja Wodeyar, after being inspired by palaces in medieval Normandy and England, gets ready to welcome in visitors, for the royal family, it means pulling out pages of history for public perusal.