Jai Vilas Mahal, Royal palace museum in Gwalior, India
The Jai Vilas Mahal is a museum inside a palace in Gwalior that runs through three floors and shows columns and arches in Tuscan, Italian-Doric, and Corinthian styles from the outside. Inside, there are halls with high ceilings fitted with crystal, marble, and gilded details.
Maharaja Jayajirao Scindia had the palace built starting in 1874 for the visit of the Prince of Wales, with a British architect drawing up the plans. Construction took several years and required importing materials from abroad.
The open rooms allow visitors to see how the Scindia rulers lived, with furniture and objects from Europe and Asia still in their original places. The reception areas hold handwoven carpets and gilded chandeliers that speak to the family's far-reaching diplomacy.
Visiting takes around two hours, with some areas roped off, and photography is not allowed in most halls. Coming in the morning finds fewer crowds and better light on the upper floors.
One of the galleries holds two of the heaviest crystal chandeliers in the world, tested for weight by twelve elephants before they were mounted on the ceiling. They still hang over the central ballroom today, each weighing over three tons.
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