Cooch Behar Palace, is a landmark in

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in the ...

city,

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. It was designed after the Italian Renaissance style of architecture and was built in 1887, during the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan of

Koch dynasty Koch may refer to: People * Koch (surname), people with this surname * Koch dynasty, a dynasty in Assam and Bengal, north east India * Koch family * Koch people (or Koche), an ethnic group originally from the ancient Koch kingdom in north east ...

. It is currently a museum.

History

The Cooch Behar Palace is noted for its elegance and grandeur. It is a brick-built double-story structure in the Classical Italian style covering an area of . The whole structure is long and wide and is on rests above the ground. The Palace is fronted on the ground and first floors by a series of arcaded

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

s with their piers arranged alternately in single and double rows. At the southern and northern ends, the Palace projects slightly and in the center is a projected porch providing an entrance to the

Durbar Hall Durbar can refer to: * Conference of Rulers, a council of Malay monarchs * Durbar festival, a yearly festival in several towns of Nigeria * Durbar floor plate, a hot-rolled structural steel that has been designed to give excellent slip resistance o ...

. The Hall has an elegantly shaped metal dome which is topped by a cylindrical louver type ventilator. This is high from the ground and is in the style of the

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

. The intros of the dome is carved in stepped patterns and

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

s support the base of the cupola. This adds variegated colors and designs to the entire surface. There are various halls in the palace and rooms that include the grand Durbar Hall or the hall of audience, Drawing Rooms, Dining Hall, Billiard Room, Library, Bed Rooms,

Toshakhana Toshakhana is a word of Sanskrit/Hindi origin that literally translates into "treasure-house". In Mughal ruled India, a toshakhana was a place where princes store "gifts and emblems of honor that they received for their posterity ... an archive o ...

, Ladies Gallery and Vestibules. The articles and precious objects that these rooms and halls used to contain are now lost. The original palace was partially a 3 storeyed structure, but was subsequently destroyed by the 1897 Assam earthquake. The palace shows the acceptance of European idealism of the Koch kings. According to the

List of Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal This is a list of Monuments of National Importance (ASI) as officially recognized by and available through the website of the Archaeological Survey of India in the Indian state West Bengal.

the Cooch Behar Palace is an ASI listed monument. COB Palace5.jpg COB Palace7.jpg COB Palace8.jpg Coochbehar palace.jpg

References

Royal residences in India Buildings and structures in Cooch Behar district Palaces in West Bengal History of Cooch Behar Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal Tourist attractions in Cooch Behar district Cooch Behar {{India-palace-stub

History

See also

References