Bengaluru Palace

The story of Bengaluru Palace

Bengaluru Palace is the 19th-century royal palace in front of you, and the one thing to notice first is its Tudor Revival design based on Windsor Castle in England. It has large fortified towers and turreted parapets, and the exterior walls are partly covered by plants. Inside, there are 34 rooms, a swimming pool, and interiors with intricate wood work, motifs, and various art pieces.

This palace was commissioned for Chamarajendra Wadiyar X, the Maharaja of Mysore, in 1873. The land beneath it was a 454 acres plot owned by John Garrett, a linguist and principal of the Central High School. The building was completed in 1878 at a cost of ₹1 million.

The place is also a reminder that what stands here today is not just a private residence. Bengaluru Palace was not built from the ground up as a royal home; the original house linked to Reverend John Garrett became the basis for the palace. Later, it was bought by the then Maharaja of Mysore Chamarajendra Wodeyar X, and the palace grounds have since been used for public events and fairs, with an amusement park inside the complex.

You are standing in the midst of the neighborhood between Sadashivanagar and Jayamahal. The palace has become a venue for cultural programs, weddings, exhibitions, musical concerts, and sports events, so its grounds are still used as a gathering place rather than just a monument to look at.

It is open for public viewing, with opening hours from Monday to Sunday, 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM. An audio tour of one-hour duration is available in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Hindi and Kannada.

If you want the best way to read the building from here, look for the fortified towers and the turreted parapets first, then the wood work and carved interiors if you go inside. The palace’s value today is both historical and practical: it is a royal palace, a tourist attraction, and a place still used for public life.