Nargona Palace is situated at Darbhanga in State of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. This Palace was the last royal Brahmin palace to be built in

Raj Darbhanga The Darbhanga Raj, also known as Raj Darbhanga and the Khandwala dynasty, was a Maithil Brahmins dynasty and the rulers of territories, not all contiguous, that were part of the Mithila region, now divided between India and Nepal. The rulers ...

History

The city of Darbhanga was one of the major cities to be destroyed in the

1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

that rocked northern part of

. Almost the entire city had been destroyed. The Palaces in Darbhanga also suffered major damage.

Moti Mahal Palace Moti or MOTI may refer to: Names * Mordecai (disambiguation), a Hebrew given name, abbreviated Moti * Motilal (disambiguation), an Indian given name often abbreviated Moti People * Moti (DJ) (Timotheus "Timo" Romme, born 1987), Dutch DJ and mu ...

was entirely destroyed in earthquake.

Anand Bagh Palace Anand Bagh Palace (also known as Lakshmivilas Palace) is a palace situated in town of Darbhanga in the Indian state of Bihar. Anand Bagh Palace was constructed during the reign of Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh in the 1880s and was severely damag ...

and

Ram Bag Palace Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * Raj ...

were severely damaged and were rebuilt after the earthquake. Maharaja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga then decided to build a new Palace with the best earthquake resistant technology available at that time. The Palace incorporated the best earthquake resistant features when built and its ability to withstand earthquake was demonstrated in 1988 when another

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

rocked

. It is probably the first building in India to incorporate earthquake resistant technology.

Architectural Style

The palace is a simple looking building with no outstanding features. The thrust being on building's ability to withstand major earthquake, no unnecessary features to beautify the building were added. A first time visitor, expecting to see a beautiful looking Palace, would be greatly disappointed in looking at a plain but massive building.

Present Status

The Palace along with its surrounding garden, orchards, etc. as well as Head Office building of

was donated in 1972 to Government of Bihar for establishing a university. Now

Lalit Narayan Mithila University The Lalit Narayan Mithila University (LNMU), formerly Mithila University, is a public university in India. Began in 1972, the university initially functioned from the Mohanpur House at Sara Mohanpur village of Darbhanga-Sakri route. In 1975, ...

is beneficiary of donation and functions from these buildings.Anthropology of Ancient Hindu Kingdoms: A Study in Civilizational Perspective; Author - Makhan Jha

References

{{coord missing, Bihar Palaces in Bihar Darbhanga Tourist attractions in Darbhanga district