Deeg Water Palace in Bharatpur

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Deeg is located about 34 km from Bharatpur in Rajasthan. It is very famous for Deeg water palace also known as Surajmal Palace Deeg. This palace was built by Raja Suraj mal in the 18th century. This served as a summer resort of the royal family of Bharatpur. This place was built by the Raja to ward off the summer heat. This palace is an architectural marvel and one of the finest palaces in the state.

The Deeg palace forms a quadrangle with the center. There is a beautiful well-laid garden with nice walkways along the well-maintained flowerbeds, shrubs and trees. Many fountains provide a cooling effect during the summer season. There are two huge water tanks called as Gopal sagar and Rup Sagar which are at the either side of the palace. They add to the beauty of the place and create a romantic ambience. The water bodies also help in decreasing the high temperatures of the place.

The entire area of the Surajmal palace is sprawled beautifully with well laid out Mughal gardens. The place is considered by some to be second only to the famous Taj Mahal in terms of beauty and symmetry.

The most interesting thing about this place is the fact that the royal family of Bharatpur stayed here till 1951. Their furniture is still present inside the Deeg palace. This gives the place a feel of a real palace.

There are some important and beautiful monuments inside the palace. Singh pol, Suraj Bhavan, Gopal Bhawan, Kishan Bhawan, Hardev bhavan, Keshav Bhavan, Purana Mahal and Nand Bhavan are some of them. Though they are not huge, they are unmatched in terms of grandeur of conception and attention to detail. The pavilions of the palace mirror the architectural traditions of the Mughals with drooping leaves, water channels, gardens and carved archways. The walls of the palace are embellished with carved motifs of flowers and peacocks made up of semi precious stones. These inlaid flower patterns adorn the walls and floors of the Zenana. Unfortunately, the stones have been removed and there are ugly scars instead of the flowers and butterflies. There are some intact inlays and you can admire their beauty.

Keshav Bhavan is a very interesting building in the palace complex. It is the monsoon pavilion and is a single storied baradari placed on an octagonal base right next to the Rup Sagar tank. The structure has five arches and along each side, there is an arcade running around the pavilions interior over a canal. There are over a hundred fountains and the canals walls are pierced with hundreds of minute jets that spew colored water.

The water spray and the jets create a monsoon like ambience. This effect is further enhanced by a unique technique that produces sounds similar to thunder. There are hundreds of metal balls placed strategically on the channel in the roof of the pavilion. These balls are set rolling due to the water pressure and produce sounds similar to thunder. This is truly a marvel of engineering skill.

Kishan Bhavan complex has huge terracotta water pitchers. These are placed inside the double roof insulating the interior rooms from the summer heat.

Gopal Bhavan complex has a family apartment. You can look over the Gopal sagar tank from the bedrooms. The Sawan Pavilion is shaped like an upturned boat. There is an ingenious water system creating a semicircle of water falling down.