Kanad Sanyal, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Umaid Bhawan Palace
Art deco in desert sandstone, begun as famine relief and finished in 1943 — the last great palace built in India.
The last great palace
It was commissioned during a long drought to give work to people who had none, took fourteen years, and was finished in 1943 — by which time the world it was built for had effectively ended. It is art deco rather than Rajput, and the difference is startling after a week of forts.
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What is open
The building is in three parts and only one of them is a visitor attraction. That is the single most important thing to know before going.
The museum
- The part open to the public: clocks, weapons, the durbar hall's painted interiors, and photographs of the construction. It is a modest museum in an immodest building.
The car collection
- The maharaja's vintage cars are displayed in the grounds and are the part most visitors enjoy most — the collection is genuinely good and includes pre-war Rolls-Royces.
The dome and the exterior
- A 43-metre central dome over a symmetrical sandstone facade, built without mortar in interlocking blocks. The lawns give you the whole elevation, which is the picture.
What you cannot see
- One wing remains the family residence and another is a hotel. Neither is open to museum visitors, and the museum entrance is not the hotel entrance.
Getting there
It is out of the old city, on the hill east of it.
From the old city
- About twenty minutes by road from the clock tower, uphill onto Chittar hill. There is no sensible walking route.
From Mehrangarh
- Around fifteen minutes. The fort ramparts give you a clear view across to it, which is a good way to decide whether you want to go.
On a departure morning
- Jodhpur airport is close to the centre, so the museum fits comfortably into a free morning before a midday flight.
When to go
Less weather-dependent than the fort, and better early.
Season
- October to March. Jodhpur is severe from April onwards and the grounds offer little shade.
Hour
- Morning. The facade faces so that early light works on it, and the museum is small enough to be crowded by mid-morning.
How long
- An hour for the museum and the cars. It is not a half-day sight and does not pretend to be.
Worth knowing
Mostly about managing what you expect.
It is not a palace tour
- You are visiting a museum in one part of a building that is otherwise a private home and a hotel. Visitors who arrive expecting the state rooms leave disappointed, and that is an expectation problem rather than a value one.
The cars are the highlight
- If you have limited time, go straight to the vintage collection in the grounds.
Famine relief is the real story
- Construction employed thousands through a prolonged drought, and that — rather than the architecture — is what the building meant locally. The photographs in the museum are the best part of the display.
Combining it
- Mehrangarh in the morning and this after lunch is too much palace in one day. Better on a departure morning, or paired with the market rather than the fort.
Nearby
The rest of Jodhpur.
Frequently asked
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