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| Ram Bagh Palace, Amritsar mritsarcity.org |
Ram Bagh Palace, situated in the center of a garden popularly known as Ram Bagh or Barandari belonged to the famous and flamboyant Maharajah Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, India and he used it as his summer palace The Punjab government in October 1997 declared the entire Ram Bagh complex , including Rambagh Palace as a protected monument. It is located on Bhawani Singh Road, Amritsar.
Maharajah Ranjit Singh paid special attention to Amritsar as it happened to be an important center for the Sikhs, so to say, a spiritual and cultural hub for them. The ruler took keen interest to visit this place on festival days like Vaisakhi, Vijayadashami, Diwali etc. To make his stay pleasant and comfortable, he wanted greenery around him. Hence, he built a fascinating garden on the model of Mogul styled Shalimar Gardens of Lahore. The Rambagh Palace, set in the middle of the Ram Bagh, was built under the supervision of Faqir-Aziz-ul-Din, Desa Singh and Sardar Lehna Singh Majithia all enjoying close relationship with the Maharajah. The impressive red-stone work of all these buildings was done by men from Delhi specially brought by Faqir-Aziz-ud-Din.
The garden covers 81 acres of land with rare flower plants and other valuable trees and it was named after Guru Ram Das.
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| Ram Bagh Palace, Amritsar Grill on window.en.wikipedia.org/ |
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| Ram Bagh Palace, AmritsarTour My India |
After the death of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, the British moved in and took over many old buildings. After independence, the government took over countless palaces all over India, including this palace complex. As for Ram Bagh palace, after 1960s, unlawful encroachment by some selfish people in the neighborhood became a menace and this led the Punjab government to declare it a ‘protected’ area to safeguard its historical and heritage value. A sum of Rs 1,25,000.00 was spent by Ranjit Singh to build this beautiful two-story summer palace for his stay in this city. The central building was for his use and the small palaces were for his chief officers. The main palace had a separate swimming pool for the royal women.
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| Ram Bagh Palace, Amritsar Balcony en.wikipedia.org/ |
In the early 20th century, the palace was expanded based on the the designs of Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob. In 1835 a small garden house was built and it was the first structure and was for the
wet nurse of prince Ram Singh. In 1887 Maharajah Sawai Madho converted it into a modest hunting lodge because, at that time, it was in the middle of an wooded area, As he was fond of safari, he needed a place for rest and relaxation. It was quite useful for his hunting expeditions.
http://www.amritsarcity.org/tourists-places-to-visit-in-around-amritsar/maharaja-ranjit-singh-garden,-ramBagh-garden-amritsar.php
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