Aina Mahal

Aina Mahal is a Palace constructed in 18th century at Bhuj, Gujarat, India, located next to the famous Prag Mahal. The Palace building sustained damages during the earthquake that occurred in Gujarat in 2001. However, some part of the building could be recovered and maintained now. It is in this restored portion that the Aina Mahal Museum is functioning displaying the music room, bedroom, court room and other items such as arts and paintings, palanquin, arms and weapons etc.

The elaborate window boxes, nicely carved doorways, the balconies around the compound, outside portion of the museum are beautiful items to explore and enjoy. Although many of them got damaged in the earthquake, the rest of the items now one can see will give the visitor an aesthetic and artistic work done in the building structure.

The Aina Mahal is located along the Hamirsar Lake at its northeast corner and is in walkable distance from most of the areas in Bhuj.

History

Aina Mahal Palace was built during the time 1752-1761 and it was constructed as a palace of mirrors known as the Madansinhji Museum. This edifice was created by two architects of that time Ramsinh and Gaidhar Devshi for the then ruler of Gujarat, Rao Lakhpatji, the chief architect of the project being the eminent Ram Singh Malam. It is reported that they spent around two million rupees for its construction.

The first floor portion of the Palace having been destroyed in the earthquake, the lower floor is now maintained offering a fantastic 15.2 m scroll of Kutch state procession.

The chief architect of the Aina Mahal palace or “Hall of Mirrors”, Ram Singh Malam got trained for 17 years in Europe, he appealed to the royal court at Bhuj for an opportunity to exhibit his architectural prowess upon which the King decided on the construction of this Palace Museum. Malam designed the palace structure in a mixed Indo-European style and started augmenting the materials for the palace from the indigenous resources. He installed a glass factory at Mandvi for this purpose, made forgings of cannons in a local foundry and produced china tiles in a Bhuj factory. It was all because of Malam’s disciplined attitude towards Gandhiji's Swadeshi ideals. The architect had also personally crafted the fountains, impressive mirrors and glasswork, apart from many other wonderful pieces of art work - a pendulum clock aligned to the Hindu calendar, artistic doors embedded with gold and ivory everything of it is a visual feast to the onlooker’s eyes.

Architecture

The Aina Palace museum is composed of two parts: the Kala Atari Picture Gallery and the Aina Mahal.

Aina Mahal or the ‘hall of mirrors’ forms the major attraction of the museum. The museum hall is positioned in the second floor of the building and structured in white marbled walls covered with mirrors with gilded ornaments fabricated in between. The museum hall houses rare objects like a Dutch Clock, antique pictures, English and French globes, mechanical toys, etc.

There is a pleasure pool constructed on the middle floor with a platform over it, furnished with fountains operated by pumping mechanism positioned below a Venetian chandelier. The art gallery part of it has with it the photographs and painted canvasses covering Bhuj City and its rulers at various times.

The elaborately mirrored interior covers some of the European items such as an inverted mirror of European Orientalism aligned with blue-and-white Delphi-style tiling, also displaying the Hogarth lithograph series ‘The Rake’s Progress’. The wonderful bed kept in the bedroom has solid gold legs and it is said that the king auctions his bed every year.

Best Time to Visit

Kutch Weather falls for the western part of the country where winter season is pleasant and considered a good time to visit as compared to summer and monsoon periods, starting from October and lasting till January with a temperature ranging from 12°Celsius to 25°Celsius.

Visitor Information

The Aina Palace Museum is open to public on all days of the week except Saturdays from 9.00 am onwards. It would be open until 5.45 pm in winters and 6.10 pm in summers with a lunch break time between 11.45 am or 12.15 pm and 3 pm.

There is an admission fee of Rs 10 per person and Rs 30 is charged for photography.

How to Reach

A number of bus services are available to reach Bhuj and it is convenient opt for a road drive for those travelling from Ahmadabad.

Rail links to Bhuj are also good as there are two daily express trains, viz the Bhuj Express and the Kutch Express, going linking Bhuj with Ahmadabad and Mumbai respectively.

There is an airport at Bhuj with daily flights connecting Bhuj with Mumbai facilitating air travel.

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