Ujjayanta Palace - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ujjayanta Palace is a former royal palace situated in Agartala, the capital of the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state of Tripura

Tripura

Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...

, and currently serves as the meeting place of the Tripura Legislative Assembly

Tripura Legislative Assembly

The Tripura Legislative Assembly or Tripura Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the northeastern Indian state of Tripura, with 60 MLAs. Ujjayanta Palace in Agartala serves as the current meeting place. The tenure of the Assembly is five years unless sooner dissolved. The present House is...

. Ujjayanta Palace is a tourist attraction of Agartala, and tours are conducted by the Tripura Tourism Department. The name Ujjayanta Palace was given by Rabindranath Tagore.

History

Ujjayanta Palace was built by Maharaja

Maharaja

Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

Radhakishore Manikya during 1899–1901 at a cost of 10 lakh

Lakh

A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...

(1 million) rupees

Indian rupee

The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....

despite financial constraints. The earlier royal palace of the Kingdom of Tripura

Twipra Kingdom

Twipra Kingdom was one of the largest ancient kingdom of the Tipra people of the Bodo-Kachari ethnicity in the Northeastern region of the Indian Subcontinent having a chronicle of 186 Kings till the present times .- Geographical spread :The present political...

was located 10 km (6 mi) away from Agartala. However, as a result of a devastating earthquake in 1897, the palace was destroyed and later rebuilt as Ujjayanta Palace in the heart of Agartala city.

Upon the merger

Tripura Merger Agreement

The State of Tripura was one of the ancient princely states of India. According to the Rajmala , Tripura was ruled continuously by as many as 184 Tripuri Kings with sovereign and independent status prior to its merger with the Indian Union in 1949, after the death of the last ruling King, Bir...

of the Kingdom of Tripura with India

India

in 1949, royal properties were nationalised

Nationalization

Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...

. Ujjayanta Palace remained unoccupied for some time before beginning its current role as the State Legislative Building.

Design

Ujjayanta Palace compound covers an area of approximately one km². The main block covers 800 acres (3.2 km²), comprising public halls such as the Throne room, the Durbar hall, Library and the Reception hall. The Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

palace was designed by Sir Alexander Martin of Messrs Martin & Co. The Chinese Room is particularly notable, the ceiling of which was crafted by artisans brought from China. The two-storied palace has three large domes, the largest of which is 86 ft (26 m) high from the ground, and which rests atop a four-storied central tower. The palace has tiled floors and carved front doors. Newer attractions are the musical fountain

Musical fountain

A musical fountain is a type of animated fountain for entertainment purposes that creates an aesthetic design . This is achieved by employing the effects of timed sound waves and timed light against water particles...

installed in front of the main entrance, and the night-time floodlights. The grounds are laid out as formal Mughal gardens adorned with fountains. There are two large artificial ponds on either side of the garden.

Several Hindu temple

Hindu temple

A Mandir, Devalayam, Devasthanam, or a Hindu temple is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism...

s occupy plots adjacent to Ujjayanta Palace, dedicated to Lakshmi

Lakshmi

Lakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...

-Narayan

Narayan

Narayan may refer to:*Narayana, an Indian name, an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu*Narayanan, an Indian name*Narain, an Indian name- People :*Aditya Narayan, Indian television show host*Anand Narayan, Indian television personality...

, Uma

Parvati

Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...

-Maheshwari

Maheshwari

Maheshwari are a business community of Vaishnava, originating from Khandela, Rajasthan in western India. They are a sub-group within the Marwaris community. The community is found throughout North India.- History & Origin :...

, Kali

Kali

' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...

and Jagannath

Jagannath

Jagannath is a transcendental non-anthropotheistic Hindu god worshiped primarily by the people of Indian state of Orissa, and, to a great extent, West Bengal...

History

Design

See also