Opinione dettagliata di koshkha
koshkha
Northampton, Regno Unito95%
Our guidebook had claimed that Bangalore Palace was only open for one week each year so we'd struck it off our target list for a visit. I'm not sure if the book was correct and we had just struck incredibly lucky with our timing but I suspect it's not open very often but certainly more than only one week per year. We were lucky that the auto-rickshaw driver who had pestered us until we finally gave in and agreed to go with him knew his stuff and urged us to let him take us to the palace.
Bangalore Palace is a bizarre place that's not as old as you might expect but is every bit as weird as you could hope. By Indian terms it's a newbie - built between 1862 and 1944 with its completion only beating Independence by three years. The architecture was inspired by Windsor Castle, or so they claim. Personally I couldn't really see too many similarities other than a bit of a rounded turret over-kill but inspiration works in strange ways sometimes. It's now owned by Srikanta Datta Narsimharaja Wadiyar, current head of the wealthy royal Wadiyar family.
These days Bangalore Palace is known as a concert venue, but not for delicate twangy traditional music, oh no! Bangalore Palace is becoming a major stop-off point for hard rock bands looking for a big space in which to make a loud noise. They don't let the likes of Megadeth and Iron Maiden into the palace but the grounds are enormous and the head-banging leather-clad youth of India flock to these outdoor extravaganzas.
With no leather to be seen and no intent to listen to loud music, we rolled up on a Sunday afternoon in October and were dropped off by our determined auto-rickshaw driver. The first thing we realised was that this was one of the most controlled and regimented Indian attractions we'd ever seen. No flak was being cut by the guards - your camera was not allowed out of your pocket until you'd bought not only your entrance ticket but also your camera permit.
The camera permit is one of the more annoying of Indian tourist 'taxes'. In the most hot tourist hotspots you can expect to get stung for camera charges but never have I faced a charge of 500 rupees (about $10) just for the pleasure of taking my own pictures. If that weren't bad enough, the entrance fee per person was another 200 rupees on top. If you are thinking 'Hey, that doesn't sound like a lot' it's easily enough to cover a whole day of tourist attractions and lunch in most cities. By this time I'd been in India for over a week and was getting in the 'zone'. I harrumphed and grumbled about the price, threatened to leave, told them it was a ludicrous price and then the guy on the desk offered me a 'very special deal, madam' and knocked off the cost of one entrance ticket. It was very noticeable that we didn't get a receipt and I did suspect that some of the money may not have gone 'through the books'.
Happy with his 700 rupees, the guy on the desk called over a man in a white uniform to accompany us round the palace. At first I thought this was a bit weird and a bit annoying and I wondered if they thought we were going to steal something. However we soon quite warmed to our personal guide who was determined to make sure we saw all his favourite things. Of course we knew that there was another big tip to be dished out at the end but he did make a big difference to our enjoyment - added to which there are no signposts and you'd never find your way round without help.
Once inside some of the décor is pretty spectacular and a lot of it is very funny. Some of the colour combinations are almost painful and the combinations of styles raises a smile. OK, if a guy in a white uniform hadn't been watching our every step we probably would have giggled out loud. There are lots of pillars and mock-Gothic arches. Decorated ceilings are sometimes a bit TOO decorated and the stained glass just looks out of place. But despite this it's extraordinarily charming. Some of the doors are very extreme - carved and polished and inlaid and even gilded. If you can physically do something to a door, they will have done it. The same can be said for the staircases where we also found some amazing plant stands that seemed to be climbing up the stairs. Stuffed bits of elephants abound - from wall mounted heads to feet umbrella stands and a trunk that had been fashioned as an ashtray. What a waste of a good beast although he was apparently a 'rogue' killer elephant. Somehow that's almost worse to turn him into an ornament.
Because the family still live in the palace, there are quite a few signs of life going on in the background. The office where they run things from has phones and printers and wall mounted pictures in plastic bags. Just what you'd see in any Indian office! We also saw the workshop from which one of the sons runs his clothing empire although subsequent discussions we had with some shop keepers suggested that he seemed to be more interested in draping cloth over models than in actually designing clothes.
I particularly liked the courtyards and balconies, many of which were decorated with gorgeous Pilkington tiles. In both Bangalore and Mysore we saw lots of examples of this world famous Lancastrian ceramics factory reaching out to the world. I get a strange sense of international continuity when I see he same type of tiles in an Indian palace as on the floor of the Chapter House of Salisbury Cathedral. There was a beautiful inner courtyard inspired by Moorish Spain, painted iron balconies that reminded me of Australia, and over the top use of arches all over the place. Refreshingly some of the rooms are in a pretty ruined state - filled with dusty and broken furniture that reminds visitors that it's a constant job to keep such a place in working order.
I loved the photographs of members of the family with the great and the good of the Raj and the Independence movement with shots of Nehru and Mountbatten scattered amongst the more personal family pictures. One of the old kings had a taste for very bad nudes both painted and photographed - I suspect art was being used as a cover for liking to paint and photograph naked women. Belgian chandeliers cropped up all over
After about 40 minutes we tipped our guide and headed outside. He accompanied us to the guard to hand over the photo permit just to make absolutely sure that nobody was sneaking any pics. Don't try the 'Me taking pics? No, I was just looking at some messages on my smart phone and the camera accidentally went off'. You won't get shot despite the guys with guns but you might be leaving earlier than you intended.
The gardens were large and neatly tended but not very interesting and the views of the exterior were impressive now that we were finally allowed to take pictures. Neatly tended ivy creeps just half way up the outside leaving the upper floor honey coloured limestone exposed. There's a collection of old carriages that might distract you for a moment or two but little more.
Despite being stupidly expensive, the chance to visit a working palace where people still live and where the number of visitors is tightly controlled, was a bit of a special experience. What it lacks in real history, Bangalore Palace makes up for with over the top décor, personal insights and sheer absurdity.
Bangalore Palace9
Valutazioni
-
Accessibilità
-
Da vedere/da fare
-
Rapporto qualità/prezzo
-
Architettura
-
Stato
-
Significato storico
