Chaitanya Sambyal “|| ‘Mubarak mandi’ as we all jammuities know is our most famous heritage site. The palace of Mubarak Mandi was the royal residence of the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir from the Dogra Dynasty. From this exiquisite palace, the Dogra rulers ruled for over 200 years. The Mubarak mandi complex spreads over 14 acres of prime land. It is located in the heart of Jammu, the city of temples from where one can see the beautiful view of the Tawi river. The architecture here, is a combination of Rajasthani architecture, European baroque ( Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style from 17th century Italy) and Mughal styles. The complex is grouped around several courtyards. It includes various buildings and palaces like the Darbar Hall Complex, the Pink Palace, Royal Courts buildings, Gol Ghar Complex, Nawa Mahal, Rani Charak palace, Hawa Mahal, the Toshakhana palace and the Sheesh Mahal. The Gol Ghar section is situated in the southern part of the Mubarak Mandi complex. It has four storeys and overlooks the Tawi river. The Sheesh Mahal is made completely of glass. The oldest building in the Mubarak Mandi palace dates back to 1824. Various Dogra rulers constructed the Mubarak Mandi palace complex in phases during different periods according to their needs and requirements. The successive maharajas added buildings and palaces so the Mubarak Mandi palace was built over a span of 150 years. Several parts of the Mubarak mandi complex have turned into ruins because the palace has been victim of fire incidents for more than 36 times. Moreover, the complex has also been damaged from earthquakes in the 1980s and then in 2005. The Dogra Art Museum, earlier known as the Dogra Art Gallery is situated within the ‘Pink Hall’. The ‘Pink Hall’ derives its name from the pink plastered walls of the palace section. In its initial days it was known as the Ajaib Ghar, an Urdu term for the word “Museum”. This is a government museum and the biggest in Jammu region. The museum is unit of Directorate of Archieves, Archaeology and Museums, under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Jammu and Kashmir Government. There is a rich collection of miniature paintings of various styles of the region. The main attractions of the museum are the Pahari miniature paintings that belong to Kangra, Jammu and Basohli art schools. In all, the objects number around 7216 that are of historical and cultural significance. It also has a gold painted bow and arrow of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. There are also some rare manuscripts like the beautifully illustrated Shahnama and Sikandernama in Persian. It also has terracotta heads from Akhnoor, Sculptures, numismatics, manuscripts, Dogra costumes, jewellery, arms and armours, metal objects and artifacts.
HISTORY:
Before the Mubarak Mandi palace complex, it is said that the maharajas of Jammu until the time of Raja Gaje Dev, lived in the old palace which was popularly known as the Purani Mandi or Mal-Dev-Ki-Mandi or Khalki Mandi. Raja Gaje Singh (1692-1707 A.D.) selected the new site which overlooked the river Tawi for the construction of a new palace complex. But Raja Gaje Singh was unable to go beyond that and it was his son Raja Dhruv Dev (1707-1733 A.D.) who finally laid the foundation of the new palaces. This information is derived by the chronicles of the region.
According to the chronicle Rajdarshani, (a historical account of the Jammu region written by 19th century historian Ganeshdas Badera) Raja Dhruv Dev started the construction of residential palaces for himself and his family on the new site on the bank of river Tawi. It was he who then shifted his royal household and darbar from Purani Mandi palace to the new palace.
After this, Maharaja Ranjeet Dev, son of Raja Dhruv Dev is said to have added few more buildings to the palace complex. Maharaja Ranjeet Dev went on to bestow the territory of Jammu as a jagir to Kishore Singh, a distant relative. It was near about four decades after Maharaja Ranjeet Dev, Majaraja Gulab Singh (1792-1856 A.D.) was crowned as the Raja of Jammu under the Jia pota tree at Akhnoor near the bank of Chandarbhaga river i.e. Chenab. Maharaja Ranbir singh ruled Jammu and Kashmir State from 1856 to 1885 A.D. Maharaja Ranbir Singh rebuilt most of the palaces of palace complex in around 1874 A.D. and completed the palace complex as it looks today. After Maharaja Ranbir Singh, Maharaja Partap Singh ascended the throne of Jammu and Kashmir. He is also said to have constructed few buildings within the palace complex. These included the Rani Charak Palace which was build for his dearest Queen, Rani Charak. on the eastern side of the palace complex, facing the river Tawi. Around 1925, Maharaja Pratap Singh’s nephew, Hari Singh became the next maharaja of Kashmir. He shifted from Mubarak Mandi to the Hari Niwas Palace. Now in the present time, sections of the palace house government offices, courts and Dogra Art Museum.
