Ranighat Palace or Rani Mahal ( ne, रानी महल) is a historic

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a histori ...

palace located on the banks of

Kali Gandaki River The Gandaki River, also known as the Narayani and the Gandak, is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left bank tributary of the Ganges in India. Its total catchment area amounts to , most of it in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, it is not ...

Palpa district Palpa District ( ne, पाल्पा जिल्ला, a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, with Tansen as its headquarters, covers an area of and ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. This palace was constructed by General Khadga Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana in 1893.

History

In 1885 Khadga Samsher Rana assassinated Ranauddip Shamsher Rana to make Bir Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana as the prime minister and himself as the Commander in Chief of Nepal. He was in the line of succession for the next prime minister. In 1887 Khadga Samsher conspired to remove Bir Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana from prime-ministership in an unsuccessful coup attempt. For this, he was arrested and forced to drop his royal titles and the position of Commander in Chief. He was banished to Thada, a place in

Gulmi district Gulmi District ( ne, गुल्मी जिल्ला), a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Tamghas as its headquarters, covers an area of , had a population of 296,654 in 2001, 28 ...

in western Nepal. In 1888, a limited power was reinstated by assigning as the Governor General and the commander in chief (Tainathi) of western Nepal and allowed to relocated in Palpa-Gauda. At Palpa-Gauda, Khadga Shumsher's youngest wife Tej Kumari Devi died in 1892. To commemorate his grief and the queen's last wish to construct a place of pilgrim, Khadga decided to build a palace. The name ''Rani Mahal'' literally translates as ''Queen's Palace''. The palace was designed by a British architect, and construction workers were brought from India. The four army platoon under him at Palpa and local villagers were also mobilized. To accomplish the construction, forced labour using neighbouring villagers was also used. Agri, a community of special caste, was employed to break the rock along the road to the palace and the foundation of the palace building. It took four years to complete the construction. He also named the nearby forest as Rani Ban (Queen's forest) along with naming the Ghats as Rani Ghat. In 1902, Khadga Samsher Rana along with his family fled to India abandoning Rani Mahal.

Current status, reconstruction and restoration

As Khadga Samsher abandoned the palace and fled to India, Rani Mahal was left behind without any proper owner or caretaker. Rani Mahal was in the verge of turning into rubble by the end of the 20th century. The poor condition of the palace was realized by the locals and became a concern of the government of Nepal. In 2017, the Government of Nepal allocated budget and restored the palace to the original state. A museum was also established in the building. To increase the tourism in the area, a new road was also constructed along the bank of Brangdi River.

Access

It takes around half an hour to reach the Rani Mahal from Tansen via a motorable road. Also, foot trail from Kailash Nagar near the Batase Danda, about 13 km from Tansen leads to Ranimahal.

Legacy

Rani Mahal is referred as the ''

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

of Nepal'' because both building are constructed in the memory of their lover and located on the bank of a river.

Gallery

File:RaniMahal, Palpa.jpg, Aerial view of the palace File:Palpa, Ranighat Palace, Rani Mahal, Nepal.jpg, The palace is situated on the bank of Kaligandaki river. File:Palpa, Kali Gandaki River 2, Nepal.jpg, Kali Gandaki River

References