Location of Deeg Excursions, History of Deeg Excursions, Architecture of Deeg Excursions.
Location of Deeg Excursions:
The beautiful garden town of Deeg is located at a distance of 40 Km from Mathura City & 98 Km North of Agra City and 34 Km North of Bharatpur City in District Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
History of Deeg Excursions:
It was founded in 1722 A.D. by Raja Badan Singh (1722-56 A.D.), a Jat ruler of Bharatpur as the headquarter of his Jat Kingdom. It was the Summer resort of the royal family of Bharatpur and hence has well laid Mughal gardens with sparkling fountains, Deeg Palace Complex having a number of Bhawans and a strong citadel named Deeg Fort.
Architecture of Deeg Excursions:
Deeg Fort – This strategic, strong and massive Fort was built in 1730 A.D. by Raja Suraj Mal (1756-63), son and successor of Raja Badan Singh to protect the town from Mughal invasion. It was in Deeg that Raja Suraj Mal defeated an 80,000 strong combined army of the Mughals and the Marathas.
It was completed in a period of about 10 years. It is square-shaped, stands on a slightly elevated ground and is surrounded by impressive wide moat which was filled with water as a first line of defense against invaders. Its 26 meters high rampart walls are made of rubble and mud and are 8 Km in circumference, having 10 gateways and 72 bastions. The main entrance to the Fort is by a bridge in the North and through a gateway protected by anti-elephant spikes. It has 12 huge towers which were fitted with Cannons. The tower located in the Northwest corner is the largest one. It was named Lakha Burj and a Cannon captured from Agra Fort is still placed here. A Haveli named after Suraj Mal is located inside the Fort. It has a typical Bengali curved bamboo roof.
Deeg Palace Complex – This Palace is a combination of a number of Bhawans, some built by Raja Badan Singh and Raja Suraj Mal, while some were completed by Raja Jawahar Singh (1764-68 A.D.), son and successor of Raja Suraj Mal. The Bhawans are located along the periphery of the central Mughal gardens based on Char Bagh pattern and are flanked by two charming reservoirs named Rup Sagar (built by Rup Singh, brother of Raja Badan Singh in 1730 A.D.) on the East and Gopal Sagar on the West.
The important Bhawans located inside Deeg Palace are :
- Singh Pol – This is the main gateway to the Palace complex. It is an unfinished structure, named after two lions sculptured in front of the archway.
- Gopal Bhawan – This is the largest and the most graceful of all the Bhawans. It was completed in the year 1760. It has beautifully laid gardens at its entrance and Gopal Sagar lake towards its back side. It has a central banquet hall having majestic arches and two rows of beautiful pillars, flanked by two low-storeyed annexes on either side. It houses a rich collection of souvenirs and furniture of Victorian-era. One of the room on the Northern side has a black marble throne platform brought by Raja Jawahar Singh from palaces of Delhi. An exquisite swing brought by Raja Suraj Mal from Delhi as a war trophy is also located nearby. Two basement storeys constructed as Summer resorts are located towards Gopal Sagar. This Bhawan is flanked by two small two-storeyed pavilions, named Sawan and Bhadon Bhawans, on its North and South respectively. Each of these Pavilions has a palanquin-shaped roof adorned with a row of beautiful spikes.
- Suraj Bhawan – Its construction was started by Raja Suraj Mal which was completed by Raja Jawahar Singh. It is a splendid, finely ornamented single-storey flat-roofed building located towards the East of the Complex. It has a verandah all around with five arched openings and rooms at its corners. It was originally built of buff sandstone which was covered with white marble later on. It is like an airy pavilion.
- Hardev Bhawan – It is located behind Suraj Bhawan, having a huge garden laid out in Charbagh style in front of it. It was built during the rule of Raja Badan Singh to which many additions and alterations were made by Raja Suraj Mal. It has a double-storeyed building on the South, with ground floor consisting of a projecting central hall faced with arches rising from a row of double pillars. An arcaded colonnade running along three sides is located behind. The upper floor has a narrow gallery towards its back side.
- Kishan Bhawan – It is located towards the Southern end of the Complex. It has well-adorned paneled facade, divided by five large central archways and a big fountain feeding tank at its roof. Its back wall has an alcoved balcony.
- Keshav Bhawan – Also known as Baradari, it is a square-shaped single-storeyed open pavillion located along Rup Sagar reservoir. An arched running on all sides forms an inner square. Originally, there were stone balls in the roof which were moved by piped running water to create the noise of thunder and water was released through spouts above the arches to fall as rain around the open hall. This was done to reproduce the effects of Monsoon.
- Nand Bhawan – It is located towards the North of the Complex. It is a large audience hall raised on a terrace, enclosed by an arcade of seven openings and has a tank in front of it. The ceiling of the central part of the hall is made of wood.
- Purana Mahal – It was built by Raja Badan Singh. It is a spacious rectangle with two separate courts in the interior. The exterior is also impressive with engrailed and pointed types of arches.
- Bengal Chamber – It houses the dining room and has sloping arches, with comfortable cushions along the outer edges forming the seating area. The walls of the royal chess room are painted in soft red.
Mughal Gardens – It is located inside the Deeg Palace Complex around which all the Bhawans have been built. It is based on Mughal Charbagh style and has numerous fountains.
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