Jai Vilas Palace Gwalior Madhya Pradesh India History and Interesting Facts

Jai Vilas Palace Quick Facts

Jai Vilas Palace Overview

Jai Vilas Palace is located in the Gwalior city of Madhya Pradesh state, India. It was built by Jayaji Rao Scindia and is still the residence of his descendants, the Eastern Shahi Maratha Scindia dynasty. This palace is more beautiful than all the tourist places of Gwalior and addresses the classic style of Maratha dynasty.

Jai Vilas Palace History

Jai Vilas Palace of the Scindia dynasty located in the state of Madhya Pradesh is still known for magnificence. It was built by Raja Jayaji Rao Scindia of Scindia dynasty in 1874 AD and this palace was constructed by Sir Michael Philose, who was awarded the title of Knighthood. Presently the palace is the finest specimen of European architecture.

Jai Vilas Palace Interesting Facts

1. Jai Vilas Mahal has an area of 12,40,771 sq ft.
2. There are a total of 400 rooms in this palace, in which 40 rooms are kept as museums and it also has a large Durbar Hall for which it is famous.
3. The Interior of the Durbar Hall of the Palace is decorated with gilt and gold furnishings and decorated with a huge carpet and giant chandeliers. It is 100 feet long, 50 feet wide and 41 feet high.
4. A wing of the Jaivilas Palace was converted into a museum in the memory of Shrimant Jivaji Rao Scindia by Late Rajmata Shrimant Vijayaraje Scindia. The then President of India Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan opened the Maharaja Sir Jivajirao Scindia Museum to the public on 12 December 1964.
5. The Museum of the Palace has a large collection of variety of furniture, i.e. French, English, Malabar, Oriental and Crystal. These were also made in India under the patronage of Sindhis. Jayaji Rao Scindia was fond of traveling, and during his travels to the West he collected a variety of furniture and artifacts for his personal use and for the Jai Vilas Mahal, some of which can be seen in the museum.
6. Jayaji Rao Scindia always had a woe to keep expensive items. Hence silver buggy, silver chariot, royal palanquin, open palanquin, gifted carts, hunting grounds and modern vehicles are some of the main collections displayed in the museum.
7. Raja Man Singh Tomar of the Scindia dynasty was a great patron of art, so the museum houses the Maratha style paintings built in the aforesaid school and Gwalior. Among the Western art oil paintings, Tondos and 3-D paintings are also valuable which were collected from time to time by the royal family.
8. The Lithographs of Napoleon and Tipu Sultan, some of the rarest collections of Sindhis are displayed in the museum of the Palace. In addition, valuable patent-colour-prints of Western artifacts collected by the Royal family enrich their collection. All these are displayed in the museum of the Palace.
9. Sculptures from the 2nd century BC to the 20th century in the palace are kept in the museum. Sandstone sculptures were obtained from the Gwalior Fort which belonged to the Tomars. In addition, some of the marble sculptures, the patent reproductions of the masterpieces collected by the royal family, make up the beauty of the collection.
10. The Biggest feature of the palace is the Durbar Hall. Which includes a banquet hall. The Durbar Hall consists of a Silver Toy Train, Tat-Pat Bhajan Hall, Billiards Room and an exclusive gold-gilt Durbar Hall with a huge carpet and a pair of huge chandeliers. This Durbar Hall of Jai Vilas is world famous.
11. The nearest railway station to Jaivilas Palace is Gwalior NG Railway Station.