The Amdavad Getaway - Balaram Palace

Balaram Palace, a weekend retreat and hunting resort of the Lohanis Nawab of Palanpur, who ruled  Jalore in southwest Rajasthan for nearly fourteen generations from the late 14th century onwards is situated amidst the Aravallis, a 542 sq Km of Balaram Ambaji reserve forest at the tip of North Gujarat,  bordering Rajasthan. The palace was built by Lt Colonel His Highness Zubd-Tul-Mulk Dewan Mahakhan Nawab Shri Taley Mahummad Khan Bahadur, the 29th Ruler of Palanpur State. The foundation was laid in 1922 and the construction of the palace was completed in 1935.

The palace is a gracious work of neo classical and baroque architecture with 13 acres of private woods and lands terraced upland rising from a hilly stream and formally landscaped gardens with Mexicans lawns, exotic flowerbeds, modern fountains, Nawabi style plush gardens and elegant rooms.

The Balaram Palace is located 167 KM from Ahmedabad, a offshoot of 9 KM from the Toll gate on the road to Abu bordering Gujarat and  Rajasthan. The first sight of the resort is majestic, amidst the background of the Aravalli range, which offers a calm and peaceful environ with a tranquil and soothing ambience. The best time to visit the palace is during the monsoons when the greenery around is at its best. However, if one wants to experience the chill and icy wind evenings, the winters will be an ideal time.  

The palace has hosted many a Prince and Nawabs of the yester days,  with  English personalities, as famous as Lord Mountbatten was a guest at the Balaram Palace. Supposedly hunting persisted in the environs of the forests of  Balaram and Ambaji  75 years before but today the guns have been replaced with the cameras.  The Palace and the surrounds is a photographers delight with the shots kissing the geometric domains and isometric views of the building with the picturesque  landscape in the background.  The Palace premises have been a scene of action for many a Gujarati and Bollywood films, notably being  Amitabh Bachchan  playing a leading role in the Hindi Film Sooryavansham in the year 1999.

The Balaram Palace has been converted into a classic luxury heritage Hotel with the elegance of yesteryear, combined with the facilities of a modern hotel. The resort offers the guests a wide variety of rooms. There are 4 Gold Rooms which were previously allocated to the ADCs of Nawab Sahib. The size of the rooms are moderate but comfortable and the private garden at the rear is indeed a bonus to the guests.

To experience a Nawabi hunting weekend, there are 5 Royal tents crafted to merge with the ambience of the palace and are uniquely designed with separate living space and dressing rooms with a provision of  sit outs on the rear and front.

The main palace houses the 12 Platinum Rooms which were used by the Nawab’s Sahib family and guests. The rooms are spacious and luxurious with a separate dressing room and a huge washroom. A interesting experience was the bed, wide and high, where one needs to use a stool to get up on the bed. I wondered why was it so, was it to feel high and mighty.

The only one suite with separate living rooms and overlooking the royal gardens having the  elegance and lavishly furnished is the Nawabi suite with all amenities for a tourist who would like to experience the luxury of yester years. The two room suite is spacious, the bed is wider and higher, the dressing room and the wash room adequately large and furnishings befitting to standards of a Nawab with an opulence and elegance of the bygone era. A stay in the suite  takes the tourist into bygone Nawabi period to experience the real Nawabi ambience.

To support the guest there is The Chitrassani restaurant which serves food of various tastes of tourists of different backgrounds equally buttressed by a pool of dedicated managers and support staff who go out of the way in making your stay at the Balaram Palace a memorable one. To cater to the guest who value their time and who can afford to, have a facility of landing at the Palace helipad in the sponsored or owned helicopters, Bollywood style.