Moti Bagh Palace is a palace in

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

, also known as Pearl Garden Palace. The word "Moti" means "pearl", and "Bagh" means "garden". The Palace was built by

Maharaja Narinder Singh Narinder Singh (26 November 1824 – 13 November 1862) was Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala from 1845 to 1862. He was one of the first local rulers to receive the Order of the Star of India and was a Member of the Indian Legislative Co ...

, the great-

grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic ...

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh, (12 October 1891 – 23 March 1938) was an Indian royal and cricket player. He was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala in British India from 1900 to 1938. Biography Bhupinder Singh was born at ...

, in 1847, at a cost of five

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

s of

rupees Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

. The Old Moti Bagh Palace and New Moti Bagh Palace were built respectively by Maharaja Narinder Singh (reigned 1845–62) and Maharaja Yadavindra Singh. The Old Palace is one of the largest residencies in Asia, housing the

Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, commonly known as National Institute of Sports (NIS), is the Academic Wing of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Asia's largest Sports Institute located in city of Patiala. History Founded on 7 ...

(NIS) currently. And the New Moti Bagh Palace is the residence of Former Chief Minister of Punjab

Captain Amarinder Singh Captain Amarinder Singh (born 11 March 1942), is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. A former Member of the Legislative Assembly, Punjab and Member ...

currently.

History

It was expanded in 1920s under the supervision of Sir

Ganga Ram Rai Bahadur Sir Ganga Ram (born Ganga Ram Agarwal; 13 April 1851 – 10 July 1927) was an Indian civil engineer and architect. His extensive contributions to the urban fabric of Lahore, then in colonial India and now in modern Pakistan, cau ...

during the reign of

. After independence, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

took over the premises, and later converted it into a museum, a taxidermy gallery, and the

North Zone Cultural Centre North Zone Cultural Centre or ''NZCC'' in Patiala in Punjab state was first amongst several regional cultural centres established by Government of India to preserve and promote arts, crafts, traditions and cultural heritage of India. Establish ...

. The

National Institute of Sports Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, commonly known as National Institute of Sports (NIS), is the Academic Wing of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Asia's largest Sports Institute located in city of Patiala. History Founded on 7 ...

(NIS)

is situated in its East wing, where the annual Patiala Heritage festival is celebrated. New Moti Bagh Palace, Patiala

There is another building, called the New Moti Bagh Palace, built in 1959, that is residence of

Amarinder Singh Captain Amarinder Singh (born 11 March 1942), is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. A former Member of the Legislative Assembly, Punjab and Member ...

Architecture

The Palace incorporates Indian and European architectural features.

References

External links

Article at the Punjab Tourism website
Palaces in Punjab, India Royal residences in India Tourist attractions in Patiala Sikh architecture {{India-museum-stub