A two-minute drive from here, I entered what I call as the heritage part of Bundi city.

It’s like this, if you have been to Jaipur, then there is a region in the city which is entirely pink coloured and everyone calls it as Pink city.

Similarly in Bundi, after crossing Naval Sagar, an amazing city starts which has beautiful haveli’s, old temples, many rooftop cafes and the best part – Bundi Garh Palace.

Roads of Bundi

I decided to get out of my car & enjoy a walk of this heritage city, which I suggest you all as Bundi isn’t as crowded as Jaipur plus locals here are so friendly as there never force you to buy or as seen in Jaipur, start following tourists just to sell something.

Here are some pictures of roads near Bundi Palace.

Street Art of Bundi

Garh Palace

And finally, I reached the parking/ ticket area of Garh Palace.

Ticket area of Bundi Garh palace

Entry ticket is for INR 100 for Indian nationals and will be higher for foreign travelers. Plus I also hired a guide which cost me INR 400. It’s always a good option to have a guide in a palace or fort as they know some great facts (like the one I mentioned about Taj Mahal) and perfect spots to take some amazing photographs.

Upon entering, I realized that this is one of the biggest palaces I have ever seen in India. Yep, Bundi Garh Palace is as big as Amber Fort, and it is a collection of many palaces built inside one, in three centuries. Just view the below images which will give you a complete view of Bundi Palace.

Bundi’s Garh Palace

Hathiapol

From here I walked on an inclining slope to towards the main entry gate which is Hathiapol “The Elephant Gate”.

Hathiapol Gate (Opposite side)

The gate is made up of marble stones, has two balconies inside and two statues of elephants facing each other, in welcoming position. I also saw this painting on the ceiling of the gate which my guide told me is the picture of Hindu god Bhaskar.

Hathiapol Gate Ceiling Painting of Hindu God Bhaskar

I must say that the amount of details this gate has, had impressed me, and this was just the entrance. Just stay with me and you will be surprised how beautiful this Bundi Palace is.

Ratan Mahal

After entering the Elephant gate, there is a lawn divided into four parts and on the first floor, I saw this white marble throne with statues of pigeons. This garden and the 1st floor is “Ratan Mahal”, which was built by King Ratan Singh or as said in local Bundi language Roa Raja Ratan Singh.

Local language of Bundi is Hatodi

White Marble Throne at Ratan Mahal

Well, the lawn isn’t as glamorous as the 1st floor, that is Ratan Mahal or Diwan e aam. This part of the palace has many pillars, rooms and the throne which as per the guide was the meeting rooms of Roa Raja (king) and he uses to address his subjects from here.

Plus Ratan Singh, the one who built this part of the Bundi Palace was also awarded by Mughal emperor Jahangir as he assisted him in many battles and it was this event in the 17th century which opened the gates of economic prosperity in Bundi.

Mughals send some of their finest architectures to develop the Bundi Palace; beautiful havelis constructed and because of all this, more the 40 schools/ colleges opened in Bundi, and the city became the “Second Kashi of India”.

The various mansions of Bundi Palace

Chhatar Mahal at Bundi Palace

From Ratan Daulat, there is a gate which leads to Chhatar Mahal which was like a private palace for King and his queens. An Arabic term, used for this place is “Haram” where all the wives of the emperor use to stay, and the only male allowed here was the king and his sons.

So Chhatar Mahal and other palaces on the western site of Bundi Palace like Phool Mahal, Badal Mahal & Hathiasal were for the Queens of Bundi. At its peak, this part of the palace was full of glamour, wine, weed and pleasure. But today it’s an old monument where you can enter by just paying an INR 100 fee :)

All thanks to Indian democracy.

Some collection of pictures which I took of all these small places.

Badal Mahal

From this part of the palace, I did notice some interesting things like pigeon posts, amazing paintings and a picture perfect view of Bundi from Chhatar Mahal. Have a look at these images too before I start to tell about the best part of Bundi Palace.

Paintings at Phool Mahal

From here we all (me, driver sahab & guide) came back to Hathiapol (Elephant Gate) and went a stoery above to see the best part of Bundi Palace – Chitrasala {Room of Paintings}

Chitrasala – The Palace of paintings

So first we walked this path from Hathiapol to reach Chitrasala which has a lovely garden and a gallery with more than 50 paintings. Have a look.

Garden at Chitrasala

Chitrasala is on the eastern side of the castle is a well maintained part of the Bundi Palace. Chitrasala is an 18th-century palace built by Raja Umed Singh, a very famous king of Bundi.

Umed Singh was very religious, and he turned saint in the age fo 42 or 18 (not sure, but he did turn into a saint) and thus he kept his distance from the glamorous life of Chhatar Mahal.

The idea behind Chitrasala was to draw paintings on the history of Bundi and its kings from 13th to 18th century and also the life which the kings and & queens lived.

Here are some pictures which I took at the palace of paintings.

Chitrasala at Bundi Palace

Now the thing to notice here are that these paintings are still in excellent condition and many images here on the life of kings & queens of Bundi, especially Queens. My guide pointed that Umed Singh, wanted to show his kids & future generation about the secret life of Bundi monarchs where kings were engaged in war & politics and the queens were, most of the time, drunk in the harem.

And with this, my 2 hour trip to Bundi Palace was finished. I must thank my guide who explained some significant facts which I shared here. I must say that this palace is truly beautiful but as the title of this article says that this mansion isn’t mentioned a lot because not many know about Bundi Palace.

So if you are even planning a complete Rajasthan trip then adding Bundi Palace is an excellent choice. And as for my journey, the next article will be on Sukh Mahal, Jait Sagar & Shikhar Lodge, the last three sites I explored in beautiful Bundi.