Jhargram Palace

The magnificent Jhargram Raj Palace is in the Paschim Medinipur district in the Jhargram city in the West Bengal state. At present it is residential place for the royal family of Malla Deb. The structure of the palace is the combination of Muslim and Gothic architecture. After the collaboration with the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation, 20 rooms in the palace on the ground floor have turned in a Heritage Hotel.

History

The history of the palace lies in the history of the Jhargram city which took place in the year 1574 when Man Singh came to conquer West Bengal on behalf of Akbar, the Mughal emperor. His elder brother along with two officials was appointed to defeat Jungalkhand’s local tribunals. Jungalkhanda was invaded by Raja Sarveshwar along with the Rajput Military force cavalry and the Mallas were defeated by them as a result Malla deb set up a kingdom which was known by Jhargram. His victory is celebrated each year on Vijaya Dashmi day that is on Dussehra.

Man Singh resided there for a period of four months and later on decided to go back to Rajasthan leaving his royal officers, elder brother and Sarveshwar Singh. Although Raja Sarveshwar Deb, his younger brother did not go back and was made Jungalkhand’s Raja of the Subedar area. His elder brother became Bhishnupur’s Raja or Mallabhum. In this way, Malla Raj was established by Man Singh and Jhargram became the capital under Sarveshwar Malla, his elder brother.

Jhargram’s royal family was founded by Raja Sarveshwar Malla Deb which is popularly known as the Raj family residing at the Jhargram Palace which was built for the Raj family and their family members. For this purpose the Jhargram Palace came into existence.

Architecture

The Palace is built in a very impressive way. It is designed and constructed in the Gothic style of structure. It has beautiful gardens and lawns inside and around the Palace. It was constructed and founded in 1931 AD. The Calcutta Improvement Trust designed the Palace during the rule of Raja Narasingha Malla Deb Bahadur. The Palace is so magnificently and artistically built that the interiors of the Palace creates the memories of the past alive and the lifestyle is also very royal.

There is a Palatial Guest house which is also the Jhargram Raj Palace’s part. According to past records, the Guest house has now become a host for various dignitaries and they stay as well in the building. The guest list included Lord Willington, India’s British Viceroy, Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, the governor of Bengal. Sir John Arthur Herbert, Bidhan Chandra Ray, Morarji Desai, Uttam Kumar, General Cariappa, Saiyid Nurul Hasan and also Pranab Mukherjee.

How to Reach

There are many places to visit and travel in West Bengal and Jhargram is one of them. There are various means by which one can travel and visit Jhargram and are discussed as below.

By Air

Jhargram does not have an airport of its own in the city but the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is near the city. It is in Kolkata and can be reached by train covering a distance of 155 km and 169 km by road. The other airport is the Sonari Airport in Jamshedpur along with the Birsa Mundra Airport in Ranchi is also near to the city.

By Rail

Jhargram has a railway station by the name Jhargram railway station which is located on the section of Kharagpur-Tatanagar of Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line. The city is connected to every part of the country including towns and villages. The railway station of Jhargram lies on South-eastern Railway. It is linked with various cities by train of all routes.

By Road

Jhargram has good roads and highways which are linked with other cities including Medinipur, Bankura and Durgapur. It has an availability of both local and state buses along with cabs, Minibus, cycle-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws for the local transport. So it’s easy to reach the Palace via any means of transport.

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