Cooch Behar Palace

Cooch Behar Palace
Façade of the Cooch Behar Palace
General information
Architectural style	Classical Western / Italian Renaissance
Location	Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India
Construction started	1887
Design and construction
Client	Maharaja Nripendra Narayan

Cooch Behar Palace, also called the Victor Jubilee Palace, is a landmark in Cooch Behar city, West Bengal. It was designed on the model of Buckingham Palace in London in 1887, during the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan.^[1]

The Cooch Behar Palace, noted for its elegance and grandeur, is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. It is a brick-built double-storey structure in the classical Western style covering an area of 51,309 square feet (4,766.8 m²). The whole structure is 395 feet (120 m) long and 296 feet (90 m) wide and is on rests 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 m) above the ground. The Palace is fronted on the ground and first floors by a series of arcaded verandahs with their piers arranged alternately in single and double rows. At the southern and northern ends, the Palace projects slightly and in the centre is a projected porch providing an entrance to the Durbar Hall. The Hall has an elegantly shaped metal dome which is topped by a cylindrical louvre type ventilator. This is 124 feet (38 m) high from the ground and is in the style of the Renaissance architecture. The intrados of the dome is carved in stepped patterns and Corinthian columns support the base of the cupola. This adds variegated colours and designs to the entire surface. There are various halls in the palace and rooms that include the Dressing Room, Bed Room, Drawing Room, Dining Hall, Billiard hall, Library, Toshakhana, Ladies Gallery and Vestibules. The articles and precious objects that these rooms and halls used to contain are now lost.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Banglapedia Kamta-Koch Behar". http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/K_0064.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-01. 
2. ^ www.coochbehar.nic.