Man Mandir Palace, Gwalior

This magnificent palace inside the Gwalior Fort was built by Raja Man Singh of the Tomar dynasty between 1486 and 1516. The palace can be reached by north eastern fort entrance. Because of the richly tiled and painted decorations with elephants and peacocks, and the exceptional fresco with the ducks paddling in turquoise waters, it is also known as Chit Mandir or Painted Palace. (Click on all the images for bigger picture)

This palace has four levels, two of them are underground. Six rounded towers crowned with cupolas relieve this 80 feet high structure. The beauty is further enhanced by blue ceramic mosaic and petite trellis work.

It consists of two open courts surrounded by apartments with carved stones, pillars. There are various rooms serving different purpose such as affairs of state, relaxation, decorated ornately with beautiful paintings, different figures of human beings, carved animals and flowers. The walls of these halls were decorated with triangular friezes.

Even the ceilings in each room had different designs carved out as below:

This is one of the few architecture marvel in the fort that has withstood the test of time.