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.
