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Maharaja's
Palace, Maharashtra
The
maharaja's 'new' palace, completed in 1881, was designed by
Charles Mant, the architect who fashioned the Indo-Saracenic
style of colonial architecture.
How
to reach there: The
broad-gauge line connects Kolhapur via Miraj with Pune and
Bombay.
Accomodations:
- Shalini
Palace Hotel.
- Hotel
Girish.
- Hotel
Maharaja.
What
to see: The palace contains the Shahaji
Chhatrapati Museum - a weird and wonderful array of the old
maharaja's possession including:
-
his clothes,
- old
hunt photos and
- memorial
silver spade used by the maharaja to 'turn the first sod
of the Kolhapur State Railway' in 1888.
- The
gun and sword collection is comprehensive, and the ashtrays
and coffee tables made from tigers' and elephants' feet,
not to mention the lamp stands from ostrich legs, are unbelievably
gross.
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