Elegant Makarpura Palace (1870) of the Indian Maharajah, Vadadora

Makarpura Palace, vadadora. Old Indian Photos

Makarpura Palace, vadadora.Vadodara - Baroda City

The stories of Maharajahs  and  Nawabs of the Indian subcontinents are not somebody's figment of imagination. Wallowing in money, pelf and power, the Indian rulers  knew how to enjoy their lives, apart from taking care of their subjects, and they were bestowed with everything to  do it. The British colonial rulers were taken aback by their grand style of living in a well embellished and nicely furnished palaces. Besides all these, they had vast amount of treasures in the form of fabulously designed gold jewelry, stone-crusted jewelry, artifacts and  expensive precious stones, not to speak of their expensive vast fleet of luxurious cars in the early 20 th century. Among the rulers of India, the Maharajah Gaekwad of Baroda (Vadadora) is counted as one of the  richest among them. 
Makarpura Palace is an impressive Italian-styled royal residence in Vadadora city, Gujarat built by Maharajah Khende Rao in 1870 of the popular Gaekwad Royal Family. It is believed to have  been the summer residence of the royal family members. However,  the family members avoided the summer heat on the plains and spent their time on the cooler hills of Nilgris in Tamil Nadu. In those days many affluent people including colonial rulers and Maharajahs would prefer  hill resorts to get away from scorching summer period and  heat waves. 

This  three story-structure designed with a Japanese - styled garden  of 130 acres  by William Goldring, who also designed the Royal Botanical garden of Kiev, was built by the ruler Khende Rao Gaekwad to use it as a hunting resort. He was quite fond of hunting and spent much of his time in a deer reserve in Dhaniavi in Makarpura, popularly known as Shikarkhana. The Italian-styled palace has more than 100 ornate brick rooms with wooden stairway and impressive frame arch balcony. The sprawling garden has a swimming pool and also a beautiful Italian-styled fountain. This fountain used to be active when the ruler and his paraphernalia stayed here while on a hunting trip. When Maharajah Malharrao Gaekwad (1870 to 1875)  destroyed part of the palace,  it was his successor Maharajah Sayajirao Gaekwad III who extended and renovated this palace in 1883 with the help of architect Robert Chisholm. The renovation and restoration cost was around Rs. 11.2 lakhs.The palace is now used as a training school called No.17 Tetra School by the Indian Air Force.

http://www.historyofvadodara.in/makarpura-palace/