Hotels in Rajasthan

From the time of the origin of Jodhpur to the present day, the Rathore capital suffered severe scarcity of water and drought followed with unfailing regularity every third or fourth year. A tradition developed among the Maharajas to alleviate the suffering of people by creating work. The work usually took the form of building canals, roads, temples, stepwells and palaces.

Rosita Forbes, travelling in the 1930s through Jodhpur, experienced firsthand the severe rainless times in Jodhpur, and described the goings-on:

'The scarcity of water in the city has been remedied by the erection of a reservoir with eight pumping stations. Roads are spreading. Fine buildings are springing up on the outskirts of the lovely town…'

The majority of the 'fine buildings' was actually one single complex! An architectural extravaganza called the Umaid Bhawan Palace – among the biggest private residences in the world! A colossal 347-rooms structure with two monumental wings separated by a central dome soaring to a height of 185 feet!

Given the scale of construction, Rosita Forbes could be excused for the misplaced observation. Even the members of the royal family describe how as children they 'used to take stones and mark our way while going on so that we would be able to retrace our steps and find our way out!'

Maharaja Umaid Singh conceived the Palace as the centerpiece of his massive famine-relief scheme. The acclaimed designs of Henry Lanchester for Cardiff City Hall and Law Courts/Central Hall, Westminster, impressed Maharaja Umaid Singh, and Lutyen's protégé was entrusted with the job.

Umaid Bhawan Palace took 14 years and 3000 men to give shape to this stupendous expression. The Palace was designed as a smooth combination of European classical elements interlaced with oriental ones. Massive sandstone boulders were cut from a quarry at Surasagar near Jodhpur and transported by a special narrow-gauge train to the construction sites. Master masons chiselled these rough stones into blocks of five and seven tons. The blocks were then fitted in an interlocking fashion with no mortar or cement being used in the construction.

Furnished with fashionable Art Deco interiors by the Polish artist and decorator, S. Norblin, the Umaid Bhawan Palace consumed one million square feet of the finest marble. The world of Hotel Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur contained everything that the royalty required – a private cinema hall, a luxurious swimming pool inlaid with tiles depicting the zodiac, gigantic royal suites, a soaring rotunda, fancy ball rooms, a majestic durbar hall, billiards room, ballrooms, banquet halls, libraries, staff quarters, servant quarters….

In 1977, Umaid Bhawan Palace opened as one of India's grandest luxury hotels.