Zoo In India

Marble Palace Zoo

The Marble Palace, a regal mansion was built by Raja Rajendra Mullick in 1835 in North Kolkata. The palace is famous for numerous attractive Western sculptures, Victorian furniture and paintings by both Indian and European artists. The hallways of the palace are adorned with large clocks, chandeliers, antiques, curios, marble statues, paintings, and busts of kings and queens. The marble wall and floors, floor to ceiling mirrors and its collection of rare birds has made the palace renowned.  Raja Rajendra Mullick also opened a Zoo next to the palace, called the Marble Palace Zoo, which largely serves as an aviary.

History

Raja Rajendra Mullick, an affluent Bengali merchant built the Marble palace with a zeal for collecting art works. Presently it is occupied by Raja Rajendra Mullick Bahadur, who was the adopted by Nilmoni Mullick. He also constructed a temple for Lord Jagannath in the palace property and made it accessible only to close relatives.

Marble Palace is situated near to the Tagore’s residence in Kolkata. It houses an art gallery which belongs to yesteryears Chorbagan’s Mallick family. This also showcases the art collection by any individual and is built with Italian marbles. It reckons to be one of the legacy buildings of Kolkata. The Palace has an interior courtyard, a throne room, and art objects of Europe, oil paintings by Van Goyen , Reynolds, Rembrandt, Rubens and besides many others. Its prized collection includes a varied assortment of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. The Marble Palace has established its rank in the archives of history in spite of the gigantic existence of the Museum of Indian.

Animals

Marble Palace Zoo, now primarily serves as an aviary. The peacocks, toucans, storks, and cranes along with monkeys and deer species have made this their home.

Location

Address: 46, Muktaram Babu Street, Chorbagan, on C. R. Avenue in north Kolkata.

Telephone: 033 22825813

Location: Located next to the palace is the Marble Palace Zoo.

Visit timing

Marble Palace is open from 10am to 4pm on all days except Mondays and Thursdays.

Entry charges:

Marble Palace remains a private residence, entry is free and photography is prohibited. A permit must be obtained 24 hours in advance from the West Bengal Tourism Information Bureau. Guides are available who give visitors a tour of the inhabited parts of the house too.

Other information:

Closest Railway Station: Howrah.

Closest Metro Station: Mahatma Gandhi Road.

Closest International Airport: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.