A fort and a palace at Kasi......
The Ramnagar Fort lies abo
ut 12 – 13 km from Varanasi and is situated on the opposite bank of river Ganga. It is the ancestral home of the Maharaja of Banaras. Maharaja Balwant Singh built this fort-palace in the eighteenth century. The fort is built in red sandstone. The Ramnagar fort has a temple and a museum within the grounds and the temple is dedicated to Ved Vyasa, who wrote Mahabharata, the great Indian epic. History says that Ved Vyasa stayed here for a brief period.
Varanasi might be known for lot of Temples, but it had also been ruled by various kings, who left their impressions on the city. The Raja Ghat on the river, for example, was built by one of them. The royal family still resides in this palace and is treated well with some of the important portfolios in temple (Kasi Viswanathar) administration held by them. The present incumbent is Raja Narain Bahadur. The last Raja was Vibhuti Narain Singh (1909 – 2000). A Superfast train named “Vibhuti Express” runs in his name between Allahabad and Howrah
via Varanasi.
The Palace has now been converted into a huge museum and one needs at least 2 – 3 hrs of time to visit this place. The Museum closes in the evening at about 5 PM.
The first section of the museum has various vintage cars (they were of Cadillac origin) belonging to the royal family. After this, we were
led to the impressive collection of palanquins made of Gold, Silver and ivory. Textiles (saree, overcoat & other dress materials) are embroidered in gold and silver zari. It is indeed wonderful to see such magnificence, and one wonders how these things would have been like when the kings were at the height of their glory. When I am writing this blog, I could relate it with Jodha Akbar directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar.
The next section comprises an Armoury which included wide range of metal armoured dress, spears, axes, swords, various types of guns
(single, double, four barrel) pistols, revolvers. Some of them are of Smith & Wesson make. Daggers are embedded with precious stones in handles…. One sword weighs 5 Kg….. I can understand that why kings were supposed to have strong shoulders. Really a fascinating experience and the way the things are preserved are amazing!!
When we move inside the palace, wide array of beautiful works of art, and gifts from kings of other states is displayed. One notable thing is a carving of a huge tree (ivory) with leaves and one can see small birds sitting on those leaves with a help of magnifying glass!!!
These were truly worth seeing, considering that with the great advances in science and technology, it is impossible to come across such wonderful handwork. The expansive Durbars depicted with portraits of various kings, with varieties of chandeliers is a delight to watch.
Another important aspect of this museum is an ancient clock which displays not only the year, month, week and day, but also astronomical facts
about the sun, moon and constellations of stars! The fact that this clock is working till date is amazing and highly appreciable and automatically qualifies to make a visit to the museum worthwhile……
A tunnel-like passage from the fort leads us under the fort to the river Ganga, flowing in full force and on the other side are the high walls of the palace. The view is breathtaking and I can assure you all that it will be a wond
erful experience……
We had a worthwhile trip to this palace, the surroundings, its scenic beauty with river on one side and a fort stand tall amidst ruins is beautifully poised in our memories………..
ut 12 – 13 km from Varanasi and is situated on the opposite bank of river Ganga. It is the ancestral home of the Maharaja of Banaras. Maharaja Balwant Singh built this fort-palace in the eighteenth century. The fort is built in red sandstone. The Ramnagar fort has a temple and a museum within the grounds and the temple is dedicated to Ved Vyasa, who wrote Mahabharata, the great Indian epic. History says that Ved Vyasa stayed here for a brief period.Varanasi might be known for lot of Temples, but it had also been ruled by various kings, who left their impressions on the city. The Raja Ghat on the river, for example, was built by one of them. The royal family still resides in this palace and is treated well with some of the important portfolios in temple (Kasi Viswanathar) administration held by them. The present incumbent is Raja Narain Bahadur. The last Raja was Vibhuti Narain Singh (1909 – 2000). A Superfast train named “Vibhuti Express” runs in his name between Allahabad and Howrah
via Varanasi.The Palace has now been converted into a huge museum and one needs at least 2 – 3 hrs of time to visit this place. The Museum closes in the evening at about 5 PM.
The first section of the museum has various vintage cars (they were of Cadillac origin) belonging to the royal family. After this, we were
led to the impressive collection of palanquins made of Gold, Silver and ivory. Textiles (saree, overcoat & other dress materials) are embroidered in gold and silver zari. It is indeed wonderful to see such magnificence, and one wonders how these things would have been like when the kings were at the height of their glory. When I am writing this blog, I could relate it with Jodha Akbar directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar.The next section comprises an Armoury which included wide range of metal armoured dress, spears, axes, swords, various types of guns
(single, double, four barrel) pistols, revolvers. Some of them are of Smith & Wesson make. Daggers are embedded with precious stones in handles…. One sword weighs 5 Kg….. I can understand that why kings were supposed to have strong shoulders. Really a fascinating experience and the way the things are preserved are amazing!!When we move inside the palace, wide array of beautiful works of art, and gifts from kings of other states is displayed. One notable thing is a carving of a huge tree (ivory) with leaves and one can see small birds sitting on those leaves with a help of magnifying glass!!!
These were truly worth seeing, considering that with the great advances in science and technology, it is impossible to come across such wonderful handwork. The expansive Durbars depicted with portraits of various kings, with varieties of chandeliers is a delight to watch.
Another important aspect of this museum is an ancient clock which displays not only the year, month, week and day, but also astronomical facts
about the sun, moon and constellations of stars! The fact that this clock is working till date is amazing and highly appreciable and automatically qualifies to make a visit to the museum worthwhile……A tunnel-like passage from the fort leads us under the fort to the river Ganga, flowing in full force and on the other side are the high walls of the palace. The view is breathtaking and I can assure you all that it will be a wond
erful experience……We had a worthwhile trip to this palace, the surroundings, its scenic beauty with river on one side and a fort stand tall amidst ruins is beautifully poised in our memories………..
6 comments:
Were these photos taken by you?
rajappa
12:25 3 March 2009
I use a mix. Some of them were taken by me and remaining taken from net.
24 Dec 2005 .. the day you started from Chandigarh for Kasi.
17 Feb 2009 .. the day you started posting the first chapter.
How do you remember minute details also even after 3 years? Maintaining a Diary / Notes, perhaps? Excellent habit.
May not be practical, at least for now, but i will suggest you start posting in தமிழ்.
ராஜப்பா
10:50 4-3-2009
When I went to Kasi, initially I had compiled a hand written notes at the end of each day.
When I came back to Chandigarh, I had typed it in computer. I am writing all these blogs from that notes.
I can do it in Tamil, but it takes a longer time to do it (Typing) in blog directly. As of now, I do not have a tamil software in my PC / Laptop. If I have to do, I have to do it directly at blog post.
I consider using Tamil for small single blogs later.
மியூசியம் திறக்கும்/மூடும் நேரம், வார விடுமுறை மற்றும் தொலைபேசி எண்ணையும் எழுதியிருந்தால் இன்னும் உபயோகமாய் இருந்திருக்கும்.
அன்புடன்
சித்ரா குமார்
Museum is OPEN all days and no weekly off.
Opens at 10 AM and closes at 5 PM. Entry allowed till 4 PM.
Entry fee for adults is Rs 15 and no fee for children.
One may require 2 to 4 hrs to have a glimpse of this place.
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