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Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit
Singh (Amritser)
 Summer place of Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Is situated in the middle of a beautiful garden called
Ram bagh. This garden is laid out on the pattern of Shalimar Bagh at Lahore. Only its architecturally unique ´darshani deorhi´ has remained intact. A museum after the name of the Maharaja is set up here displaying oil paintings, miniatures, coins, abd weapons relating to the Sikh period
It was constructed under the supervision of Fakir Azeez-ud-din and Sardars Lehna Singh and
Desa Singh Majithia, nobles of the Lahore Darbar at a cost of
Nanak Shahi Rs. 1,25,000/- Originally, laid in a garden spreading across 84 acres of rare plants, trees and flowers, surrounded by a boundary wall, 14 feet high and a moat all around it, this beautiful palace had also several equally fine-looking clusters of structure which were converted into clubs and libraries, the lawns around them into tennis courts by the British.
The attraction of Punjab, a land of
unparalleled natural beauty is further improved by the royal
splendor of the numerous palaces that dot the state. One of the most
inspiring palaces of Punjab is the Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit
Singh. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a courageous monarch whose maintain
to fame lay in the energetic role he had played throughout India's
turbulent struggle for freedom.
The royal Summer Palace built under the support of the late Raja was
constructed under the skillful supervision of Fakir Azeez-ud-din
and Sardars Lehna Singh and Desa Singh Majithia, two
earlier nobles of the Lahore Darbar. The spending incurred in
building the magnificent palace with its stylish interiors and extensive
estates came to just about Rs. 1, 25,000 Nanak Shahis.
The imposing house was erected in a gorgeous
garden in a tedious expanse of 84 acres. The colorful lawns house
some of the world's rare plants and fragrant recurrent blooms and are
carefully tended by intelligent and diligent gardeners. A 14 feet
high rampart wall encloses the garden along with a moat. The stylish
supplementary edifices nearby the palace have been converted into
popular clubs, and libraries that are the haunts of the nobility while
the British changed the landscaped lawns into tennis courts.
The impressive splendid entrance or the Darshani Deori has four
two storied towers facing the east, west, north and south,
correspondingly. Tanks and elegantly carved water fountains with
air-conditioning pipes complete the picture of royally grandeur. The
interiors are grand and chic and display some ornate mirror work and
artistic masterpieces that recount the former beauty of the Summer
Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The entrance of the palace called the Darshani Deori is exclusive in design. It has four two storied towers in the cardinal directions. There are two tanks, the one connecting the palace with water channels fitted with fountains and the other with the air-conditioning pipes circuiting the external walls and the bathing tanks of the twice storied part of the residence. Some of the paintings and the mirror work on the roofs is still extant. |
