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00:00Palaces, the most spectacular and lavish homes on earth.
00:09Luxuriously designed for the royals who wanted the biggest and the best.
00:18Behind the golden gates of these royal megastructures are incredible stories waiting to be discovered.
00:25Infamous monarchs from history and the artists, designers and engineers who turned their grand visions into a reality.
00:36These are the most opulent, flamboyant and innovative royal residences around the world.
00:44This time, Lakshmi Villas Palace is the largest private dwelling in India.
00:51The Indo-Saracenic designed residence was built for the Maharaja of Baroda in 1890 and remains the home of the royal family to this day.
01:01Hidden away in this magnificent structure are groundbreaking technical innovations that make Lakshmi Villas one of the world's greatest palaces.
01:12Located in Vadodara in the western state of Gujarat, India, Lakshmi Villas is almost four times the size of Buckingham Palace, despite the fact it was only built to house a small family.
01:39The palace uses Hindu, Islamic and British design styles to create a truly breathtaking building.
01:46The current Maharaja of Baroda is Samajit Singh Gaikwad, who lives at Lakshmi Villas with his wife, the Maharani Radhika Rajai, and their two daughters, princesses Narayani Rajai and Padmajali.
02:06Maharaja Maharaja Maharajai.
02:13Maharaja Samajit Singh grew up at Lakshmi Villas, which is now part family home and part tourist attraction.
02:21We used to get a lot of people coming in and requesting that they wanted to see the palace.
02:27It was my decision in about 95, 96 that I said that we must open the palace up.
02:34There are people who actually want to come and see and admire this place.
02:38And ever since that, the number of visitors have just increased year on year.
02:45The man who commissioned the 19th century palace was Samajit Singh's great-great-grandfather, the Maharaja Sayajirao III.
02:53So we are at this place where the first stone for this magnificent palace was laid.
03:00And this was when Sayajirao himself was about 17 years old.
03:06He was born in 1863 and this stone was laid in 1880.
03:10And obviously Sayajirao was very young.
03:13And he had a lot of people advising him when this palace was built.
03:17I can imagine they must have conceived and sort of visualized something quite magnificent at that point in time to create this great palace.
03:28I think this was the first porch built as the foundation stone and the completion stone are both attached to this porch.
03:36What we have here is the lion tending to a hair which symbolizes in our culture the royalty.
03:45The lion would be the king, the emperor.
03:48And the hair would be the people, the subjects.
03:52So he protects them, takes care of them.
03:54I think it's a very, very ornate and beautiful porch as an entrance.
03:59As well as being aesthetically pleasing,
04:02Lakshmi Vilas was at the forefront of technical innovation in 19th century British ruled India.
04:10The engineering itself must have been very challenging because every time now we take up jobs to repair
04:17and we realize how slow things move and how carefully we've got to do things.
04:23So it's just incredible that they could actually put this whole thing together.
04:27Included in the design of the palace was a high-tech innovation that was being developed by American inventor Thomas Edison,
04:39eight and a half thousand miles away in New Jersey.
04:43Electricity.
04:44Edison's company that he set up to try and bring electrification to the cities was set up in about 1882.
04:51And at that point there were just a few parts of Manhattan that were being electrified.
04:57So the fact that this palace had electrification was really modern, really quite unusual and would have been quite ahead of its time.
05:05At this time there was no mains electricity available, so like those other buildings in this period that had electricity,
05:16the palace had to have its own generator.
05:19Electricity that could then be used for driving all sorts of things but would have mostly been used for lighting,
05:24as a safer alternative and a slightly brighter alternative to gas.
05:27The electricity also powered the Maharaja's elevators, an extravagant luxury considering the palace is only three stories tall.
05:40By the 1890s elevator technology was fairly well established and they were used to create high-rise buildings in America.
05:47But they were virtually unknown in private residences and Lakshmi Villa Palace is one of the first residential buildings in the world to have an elevator.
06:01This is an elevator which was way ahead in time.
06:04The elevators are installed over here in the property palace and it had a wooden cabin.
06:09If you see the wooden cabins over here, it had got a very nice veneer and a wooden walls,
06:15which was been ventilated with Ornette grills and it was been operated with an electric power at that time,
06:22which was very unique in those days.
06:24Elevators were actually something that had been in existence for thousands of years.
06:30So when you go back to the Roman civilization, for example, they were using lifting platforms,
06:36which they manually just pulled ropes around pulleys to bring their gladiators from, for example,
06:41the basement of the Colosseum up into the fighting arena.
06:46The problem with these sorts of lifting platforms was that if the rope snapped,
06:51then the platform would just plummet and usually kill the occupants.
06:55And I'm guessing that's not something they would have wanted in this very opulent 19th century palace.
07:00Elevator technology had moved on thanks to an invention by American industrialist Elisha Otis.
07:07Elisha Otis was a bit of a mechanical tinkerer type person who was working in a factory in New York around the mid-1800s.
07:18And he invented a type of braking system which depended on a special type of spring called the wagon spring.
07:25So that if the ropes did snap, the spring would kind of kick into gear and latch itself into toot or ratcheted rails and basically created a braking system that would stop the lift from plummeting.
07:39And he installed these first lifts in the 1860s and 70s in buildings in Manhattan.
07:45And so they were becoming all the rage in the late 19th century.
07:50When it came to the Maharaja Sayajirao choosing an architect for Lakshmi Vilas, he had two people in mind.
08:04British architects Major Charles Mant and Robert Fellows Chisholm.
08:08Chisholm had done a lot of projects in Baroda.
08:13Mant had hardly done any projects in Baroda.
08:16So the obvious choice was Chisholm to start to begin the project.
08:20But Mant was chosen.
08:22What little I know about Sayajirao Maharaj, he would have had a say.
08:25At the time, India was still under British rule, but Mant was a chief proponent in a new design style that encapsulated both Western and Eastern cultures.
08:43Indo-Saracenic.
08:47The architectural style is really a hybrid.
08:50There's arches, there's domes, there's minarets.
08:52It's incredibly ornate, it's almost fantastical.
08:56It is all types of palaces blended into one.
09:03The idea was to combine the two traditional parts of Indian architecture, the Hindu and the Muslim architecture in India, the Mughal architecture, with the European style, which at the time was considered relatively forward-thinking and modern.
09:18Nobody was quite certain in this period what the correct appearance for architecture should be, let alone the correct appearance for imperial India.
09:26And the Indo-Saracenic architecture was an attempt to create a style that was appropriate for this new environment.
09:33Construction of the gigantic 500-foot-wide palace began in 1878.
09:42No expense was spared on its construction.
09:46The best materials were sought from throughout the world and brought to the site.
09:50Everything had to be brought by ship and thus took months to arrive, which meant that everything had to be planned even more carefully than a normal building project.
09:59And I always wonder, how did they get their logistics in place?
10:04Back then with the kind of roads, the transport, I can't still figure out how they managed it.
10:13So the whole story of this palace being built, conceptualized, put together, to me is still a mystery in a sense.
10:21But in 1881, tragedy befell the British architect who had overseen the initial construction and design of Lakshmi Villas.
10:34Major Charles Mant was a massive perfectionist. He was obsessed.
10:38And as the palace progressed, he became very concerned that he got his calculations wrong and the palace would fall.
10:46It is widely believed that Major Charles Mant became so consumed with fear that he took his own life.
10:54Leaving the Maharaja's dream in tatters.
11:00After a year of construction, Lakshmi Villas Palace remained incomplete.
11:06But in 1881, a new architect was hired to finish the grand structure.
11:12Robert Fellows Chisholm was an engineer by training.
11:16This was actually normal in India at the time, where most architects had actually first trained as engineers and qualified in both.
11:23He took over and he said to not have made many changes apart from he introduced iron.
11:31Chisholm got in the iron.
11:32Before that, the details were all with wood. Wooden beams, wooden joists, everything.
11:39And Chisholm convinced the state that iron would be better structurally.
11:44In terms of everything. Naturally, right? Strength, maintenance, everything.
11:49Twelve years after the foundation stone was laid, the Maharaja's new palace was complete.
11:55The palace was built and finished by 1890.
12:00And this palace is spreaded in almost 500 acres.
12:05It's built by a dangadra stone, which is a sandstone, which is a breathable stone.
12:09It's made with an agra red and a blue trap from Puna, which is in Maharashtra, western side of part of India.
12:18Blue trap is considered very strong. It has got a beautiful density.
12:22Maximum density among the all stones which are used over here.
12:25So they are used in the plinth level and for the foundations over here.
12:28The palace included a clever design trait, a late 19th century version of air conditioning, which was very much needed in the searing heat of an Indian summer.
12:40The pipes, if you see, there are the pipes which were used to cool the fenestration part.
12:49And they have been sprinkled by water.
12:52So that the hot air which passes through would be a little cold and would enter into a palace.
12:58So it was basically a local mechanism of a desert coolers.
13:03This palace was a groundbreaking of the time when it was been built.
13:08The intelligent engineering continues inside the palace.
13:18The largest room at Lakshmi Villas is the Durba Hall.
13:22Located on the ground floor, but rising three stories high, it covers 5,000 square feet, a little larger than a basketball court.
13:30It's a magnificent hall. I think it's the most magnificent hall in the palace, but I think one of the most magnificent in India is not the world because of how beautifully different styles and cultures are merged into this.
13:44There's Venetian, there's English, the chandeliers are English, the stained glass is Belgian, the motifs are Indian. So they're angels, as you can see, but they're wearing nine yard sarees. So they're completely Indianized angels.
13:58The ornate balconies in the Durba Hall are made from both sandalwood and rosewood, creating a two-tone aesthetic.
14:08There's just so many elements if you look, and each one if you break it down to really looking at each piece, there's so much detailing in it, you know, and so much detailing in it makes it Indian, which makes it unique, which makes it completely relevant to the hall that it is in.
14:26But when you look at it collectively, it's just so overwhelmingly beautiful.
14:35The original architect of the palace, Major Charles Mant, had designed the hall with a sloping roof.
14:42But his successor, Robert Fellows Chisholm, reworked the plan before the Durba Hall was completed.
14:48For me, as an architect, see, what is interesting about it is the fact that it's a flat roof, and such a huge flat roof, and for which they had to have the roof structure, the roof structure is almost eight, nine feet.
15:06You know, you needed that depth of beam to span that larger structure.
15:12If you go above the false ceiling, there's almost eight feet of the structure actually spanning this large, big roof.
15:22There are primarily girders and the secondary girders also, which take the load of a flat roof.
15:27Those girders transfer the load to adjacent walls, which is 54 feet apart, and the length of the Durbar Hall is 98 feet, which was one of the biggest Durbar Hall in the western and the central part of India at that time, during that time.
15:45Now, if you see the load of the structure, the slab, flat roof structure has been transferred to walls.
15:49It has been transferred from the core building arches. These arches are core building arches, which is then again transferred to a column, pillars, which are ordinate pillars, and then to a foundation.
16:04The symbolism in the Durbar Hall tells the story of how the Gaiquad dynasty came to rule over the former Indian state of Baroda.
16:12So that is the family monogram, the coat of arms. You see a rider in the center of it, on a horse, and the motto says,
16:23Jeen ghar, jeen tak, which is, the saddle is my home, the saddle is my throne. Indicating that the Maharaja and the family are always ready, prepared to protect the people, and it all begins with being on the saddle as a warrior.
16:39So the Gaiquad dynasty came to be established in about 1730s by Damaji Rao Gaiquad, and it happened that the Gaiquads were part of the genders in the Peshwaz army.
16:57The Peshwaz were based in Pune. The Marathas and the Peshwaz had this great ambition of conquering and advancing their territories, and they came to Gujarat.
17:09And what happened was, once the Peshwaz died, all the generals then, wherever they were at that point in time, became rulers of those areas, and they created their dynasties there.
17:24And that's how the Gaiquads also, in this region, started their kingdom.
17:31By 1870, the Gaiquad dynasty was in trouble. The Maharaja Kandarau had died without a son, and his unpopular brother Malharau took the throne.
17:43Within four years, Malharau had been deposed after ruling as a tyrant and spending the family fortune.
17:52In 1875, Maharaja Kandarau's widow, Jamnabai, went looking for a potential ruler from outside the royal bloodline.
18:01She found the future Maharaja, Sayajirao III.
18:08His is an incredible story. Three boys came here with their parents, and each of them was asked a question.
18:16And Sayajirao, when asked a question as to why was he brought to Baroda, his answer was that he was brought here to rule Baroda, to become a king and rule Baroda.
18:28And that's how the story goes, and he was the one who was selected, picked up and adopted at the age of 13.
18:40He was put under a very testing regime in terms of, he had to learn English, he had to learn Gujarati, which was the language here.
18:49He had to learn so many other things in terms of the etiquette and what not.
18:54And he had to learn that in a very short span of time and adapt out here.
19:01And he achieved so many things in his life.
19:03And that's the reason why the city, the state and people look up to him as a legend.
19:09It's incredible to think that the Maharaja was picked as a young boy and groomed for success and became such a marvelous Maharaja.
19:20So far reaching in his reforms, he was progressive, intelligent, well traveled, very forward thinking, much loved by the people, ruled for 63 years.
19:28And what's fascinating is that monarchy is based on blood, but this can prove that someone who doesn't have the blood is better than someone who does.
19:36As Maharaja, Syed Jirao made many educational and social reforms and founded the Bank of Baroda, which is now one of the biggest banks in India.
19:52He was just 17 years old when he decided to build the palace in 1878, but tragedy struck soon after.
20:01His first wife's name was Lakshmi Bhai, and she passed away pretty young, leaving a son and two daughters.
20:18Syed Jirao was pretty distraught when that happened.
20:21And she was not there when this palace was completed.
20:27He obviously, as a remembrance for her, he named this as Lakmi Vilas.
20:41At the rear of Lakshmi Vilas Palace in Gujarat, India, is a very special room that is important to all the Gaikwad Maharajas.
20:52This is the Gadi Hall, and it's called the Gadi Hall because this is the Gadi.
20:58Now this Gadi is very sacred to us.
21:01That's the reason when we walk in, we remove our shoes and come in here, is for this very reason.
21:08So every time somebody is coronated as a king, sits on this Gadi, and he's coronated on this Gadi.
21:16And this, of course, is older than the palace because this has come down from generations and dynasties.
21:26So all the members who were coronated as kings have been coronated on this very Gadi.
21:32The Gadi literally translates into the throne. So this is the most important symbol of power and authority and the supremacy that Baroda had over other principalities.
21:46After Sayaji Rao's death in February 1939, he was succeeded by his grandson, Maharaja Pratap Singh Rao, Samajit Singh's grandfather.
21:57This is my grandfather's coronation in 1939. This is when Sayaji Rao passed away. And Sayaji Rao was his grandfather.
22:09Now his father passed away young, so he was not alive when Sayaji Rao passed away and my grandfather was coronated.
22:20And he was brought up by Sayaji Rao. He must have been, I think, about 30 when he was coronated.
22:27Almost 50 years later, in 1988, Samajit Singh's father, Rajit Singh, became Maharaja, taking over from his older brother, Fatah Singh Rao.
22:42My father was a trained artist. He loved his art. He painted a lot. There are a lot of paintings. There are just some paintings which have been selected by my mother.
22:49They're all paintings depicting different gods. There are some paintings in the palace. But there are a whole lot of collection upstairs.
23:01There are a whole lot of mediums that he's tried with. There are paintings which he's done of my wife Radhika. There's one in our room. There's one which he's made of my sister. There's one which he's made of my mother.
23:14After the death of his father in 2012, it was Samajit Singh's turn to sit on the sacred gaddy.
23:23It's emotional. Obviously, you know, I missed my dad who had passed away a few months earlier. And, you know, the whole attention was on me on that particular day.
23:32It's funny because everybody then starts calling you Maharaja. But looking back, an important milestone in my life in that sense.
23:44And for this gaddy and for the tradition of the house, it was important that the ceremony of this nature did take place.
23:51As well as housing the Maharajas of Baroda, Lakshmi Villas Palace has had many famous visitors during its 130-year history.
24:04In 1921, we had Prince of Wales, then went on to become King Edward before he abdicated. He had visited Baroda. And it is said that he was so impressed by the tennis courts, which we still have, they are clay courts, that he squeezed in a game of tennis.
24:23I believe he played four sets. And he got late returning. So he just dashed up in his tennis gear to meet with Maharani, Maharani Chimnabaid II.
24:35Another famous face who spent a lot of time at Lakshmi Villas in the late 19th century is Raja Ravi Varma, one of India's most revered painters.
24:45He gave humane faces and forms to mythological figures, which up till now had been really exaggerated. Gods and goddesses would be made purple and blue, with very, very, you know, larger than life eyes or, you know, fangs.
25:03He just made them more humane and relatable.
25:06Varma loved Lakshmi Villas so much that he ended up visiting Maharaja Sahajirao for over a decade.
25:15And he came for the first time to Baroda for the coronation of Sahajirao Maharaj. And it was the start of a lifelong friendship. And he was in Baroda on and off for 14 years. There was a studio built for him.
25:28He started making oleographs and prints. And then art really became accessible in India for the first time to the masses.
25:37Because there was a lot of discrimination that happened. A lot of people were not allowed inside temples.
25:42When these pictures came out, when all your graphs started being printed by Raja Ravi Varma and his own press, they were able to at least purchase a print and put them up in their home and pray to them.
25:55So he was, he was a revolutionary artist.
26:01Another art form celebrated at Lakshmi Villas is the art of combat.
26:05The palace armory contains weaponry used in battle and for ceremonial purposes by the Gaikwots throughout the centuries.
26:24There are all the different types of swords used for different purposes.
26:29We have the Waag Nakia, which was famously worn by Shivaji Maharaj.
26:36Shivaji Maharaj was a 17th century Indian warrior who defeated his great enemy, General Afzal Khan in 1659.
26:47It was a big victory against him. He was invited to his tent and there was an attempt to throttle him.
26:54So Abhzal Khan went to sort of hug him this way and pulled out his dagger to hit him in the back.
27:05That's when Shivaji realized and just tore open.
27:09Got in and tore open with this.
27:12So Waag Nakia literally translated into a lion's nails. That's what it means in English.
27:17So Waag Nakia.
27:21Despite the armory, the palace itself was never built as a defensive structure.
27:26It has always been a family home.
27:30Lakshmi Villas is split into three distinct parts.
27:34To the left is the Durba Hall.
27:37The Maharajah's residence, where the family live today, is in the center.
27:41And the Zanana, the former women's apartments, are on the right hand side of the west facing building.
27:48Spread across the 500 foot wide structure are 15 domes crowning the palace.
27:55One of the features of India, Sarasanic architecture, is the plethora of domes that covers the building.
28:01Some of these influenced by Hindu architecture, but mostly by Mughal architecture.
28:06The challenge for the architects was, of course, what to construct the domes out of.
28:11And what to use them for, as the dome spaces weren't necessarily terribly functional.
28:16Some of them are empty and are just there for decoration.
28:19The large dome in the middle, though, provided a useful space for a huge water tank.
28:25The 75,000 litre tank hidden within the dome is still in use today.
28:31Providing the palace and its magnificent fountains with water.
28:36The Dome of the Palace
28:39Yeah, right now we are beneath the central dome, the biggest dome in the palace.
28:45Now, if you see, it's a square room.
28:47So, a dome on a square room needs few elements to transfer the load from dome to the walls and to the foundation.
28:54foundation so there are squinches and pediments also the squinches are the
28:59area where the dome is placed on a square or a rectangular room and the
29:07corners which are left have been closed by squinches arch of the dome is
29:15transferred on the squinches and then onto a pediment. Pediments are the four
29:19corners which are conical in shape so they transfer the even load of dome onto
29:25the walls and a walls transfer to the walls beneath and to the foundation.
29:30Water is actually very deceptively heavy and so when they were designing these
29:35domes they would have really had to think about how much weight was going to
29:39be added not just from the actual materials of the dome itself but from
29:44these tanks that would sometimes be full of water and then sometimes be a bit
29:48empty so they would have had variable loads to deal with in the design of
29:53those domes. Domes have been around for thousands of years and serve both an
29:59aesthetic and a structural purpose. So the way they work structurally is those are
30:07obviously 3d shapes so if I just take you back into two dimensions for a second
30:11back to the arch the arches work in a very different way than beams do because
30:17when you push down on an arch what happens is that all the material within
30:21that arch is actually in compression so it's being squashed and domes work in a
30:27very similar way to the arches except if you imagine spinning that 2d arch all the
30:32way around in three dimensions that's when you get a dome so again when you push
30:36down on a dome it's all being squashed and it's kind of channeling the forces
30:41down to the structure. The water tank inside the central dome is fed by an
30:48electrical pump system by a 15th century underground reservoir believed to be
30:55built when the Islamic Mughal Empire ruled the area the step well pre-existed the
31:00palace. The lattice of decorative stonework surrounding the world stops it
31:05from caving in. These particular ordinate beams are acting as a structural member to
31:12support the side walls of the step well. The step well has been almost 70 to 80
31:16feet below and these walls have been casted from 80 feet below the ground level to
31:21withstand the pressure and if you see that there are some domes also crossed
31:27there so this domes may be having as a central portion has been used as an
31:31oculus. Now oculus is a phenomenon wherein there is a gap a circular gap in
31:37domes wherein you get blessings of the god basically so they might have thought
31:44that this oculus might bless the water in the well. Despite the phenomenal
31:51technology surrounding Lakshmi Vilas it is still first and foremost a family home for
31:57the Maharaja Samajit Singh. Of course before I move in I must tell you that my
32:03ancestors forgot to build a door here and we still struggle with security and
32:08pigeons and you know what else a whole lot of issues but we've let it be at some
32:14point we will build a door it's a job that's been left for us. There's no door
32:19from here right up to our room all the way on the first floor. There are no doors open to all.
32:29It's absolutely lovely living in a palace you get used to the space you get used to the privacy
32:34sometimes it's a little frustrating because you want to introduce an elephant which you like very
32:39much or you've traveled around the world and you've picked up something and you bring it carry it all the
32:44way back home and you want to put it on a shelf and it just doesn't go with the house because the
32:49house has such a strong personality that anything you put in there just sticks out like a sore thumb.
32:58The Maharaja and the Maharani were married in Delhi in February 2002. Radhika Rajay can still
33:05remember the first time they met. I was working as a journalist with leading daily in Delhi and it was
33:14an arranged match. I tried to keep it as casual though of course such meetings can never be entirely
33:19casual because we all know why we need to meet. It was nice because I offered to pay and he he let me
33:28so I like that because you know being a working girl myself it was important for me to be with someone
33:33who understands and appreciates that it was nice. After the wedding Maharani Radhika Rajay arrived at
33:43Lakshmi Vilas for the very first time. This is actually one of my most sentimental and favorite areas of the
33:53palace because this is my first introduction to my home and I came in here I was under a heavy veil of
34:01course and I was very very shy and I came in here and all I saw was this this profusion of color and
34:08sounds and and smells because we had family and friends all around here and they were showering
34:14you know us with flower petals with rose petals. It's overwhelming and even today there you know the
34:20magnificence is is such that it's it's to behold for me or even today there are details that I would still
34:27see and notice and marvel at. That's the magic of this palace.
34:39There used to be a private zoo on the grounds of Lakshmi Vilas palace which has since been swallowed up
34:45by part of an 18 hole golf course. Although it has long been closed Maharaja Samajit Singh Gaiquad remembers
34:53visiting the animals as a child. There was a giraffe, there was a zebra, there were crocodiles,
35:02there was a bear that used to sometimes come out who was she was a friendly bear and I think
35:08she used to walk across to the palace at times. We as kids of course found it fascinating and we used to
35:15first go there every day. For us I mean this is just wonderland growing up as kids.
35:27The day-to-day running of the palace has changed a lot since the 1970s
35:31when Maharaja Samajit Singh was a child.
35:34So the palace was never empty. The palace was always busy and it had a lot of people in it.
35:44For instance I recall while growing up there were at least 16 chefs in our kitchen at that point doing
35:50different things and there used to be an Indian kitchen and there used to be a continental kitchen.
35:55So that's the scale of services that were packed into this palace.
35:59For us coming here in the evening was dinner entertainment because there used to be one
36:08person who's to dance out here for us in the evening. There used to be others who's to tell
36:14us stories. There would be a third one who would play pranks with the rest of us. I recall there used
36:21to be at least seven eight table boys coming in lovely white uniforms and serving us. But each one of
36:29them a character. And these are the people who brought so much of life and character to this palace.
36:39Today the Maharaja's house staff have shrunk from scores to just one. Although many people have come
36:46and gone, the dinner plates have remained the same. We've been eating in these thales ever since I've
36:53been growing up and these are pretty heavy. These are Indian thales of completely silver. We've just got
37:01spoiled eating in these. We come here every day and of course it's one of the most important roles
37:07because we get a lovely delicious food here every day.
37:13Lakshmi Vilas was built in 1890 and Samajit Singh appreciates the history of his palatial home.
37:20It's interesting because now for 130 years family has lived in this house unlike many other palaces
37:29which after 50, 60, 70 years have become hotels or other things. With this palace I think I'm sure
37:36if you brought back all my aunts, sisters back to life they all will have a story about this palace.
37:43I think it's just incredibly a privilege to be living here and to be surrounded by this beauty and
37:49this nature and you have the privilege of calling it home and yet you must see that the legacy carries
37:57on that you're able to maintain and keep this property the way it deserves to to carry the story forward.
38:04That is a responsibility one feels as a resident of this house.
38:12After growing up here the Maharaja wants his two daughters princesses Nari Anirajay and Padmajirajay
38:20to enjoy the vast space in the palace too.
38:23There were scooties around and cycles around to go into verandahs. We used to get them on the first floor.
38:30We used to get them on the second floor. It was great for kids. So I sometimes tell my daughter,
38:36I said you the television is spoiling you, you know, the television makes you sit inside and you're watching this.
38:41I said we had no television so there was no way you could sit anywhere and you had to be out all over.
38:48Growing up I mean this was one hell of a place.
38:51And the princesses are proof that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
39:01The house is very spacious and we play with the dogs.
39:05We also like watch TV and we play a lot of games and do sports, you know.
39:10For them it gives them a great sense of identity and they have great sense of pride in their family and their home.
39:16And they are naturally already exposed to this level of art and culture and history by just living in this monument,
39:24which is amazing. Also the space.
39:27They love the sense of space, you know, the ceilings, the corridors, the expanse.
39:32They don't want to go on a holiday anywhere. They just want to be here with their scooties,
39:36with their dogs and it's the perfect place for them.
39:41I couldn't imagine living in anywhere else than here.
39:45Me too.
39:48Not many families experience living in such palatial surroundings
39:53and the Maharani Radhikaraj is still blown away by the intricate design touches around her home.
39:59It's like a canvas and the artist has been given a free hand.
40:04It's literally like there has been no budget allotted, there has been no kind of
40:09direction given other than just make it beautiful, you know, give it your best,
40:13put all your artistic creativity to it. I think that's the feeling I get when I see it because it's
40:19it's so ornate and so beautiful and each side is element is different. So it's really been a creative
40:26aspect where everything, you know, it's been something they've tried out, it's been a learning
40:31experience for them. They've experimented, they've explored and I think that's what comes across when
40:36you see the canvas. And as well as being dazzling to look at, the design of Lakshmi Vilas is practical too.
40:45If you look at the steps that we have, you know, the height of the steps is just perfect.
40:51So even my mother-in-law, 74, she has no problems climbing the stairs because they're planned so beautifully.
40:59You know, the edges of the stairway, my daughters have never bumped into anything because they're all
41:04rounded. You know, there was so much attention to detail in those days that things were made to last,
41:12were made, you know, with a lot of love and attention.
41:15There are even four courtyards within the walls of the palace so the family can enjoy some fresh air
41:22without venturing out into the outer grounds.
41:28So a feature of this palace is courtyards. So this is one of the four courtyards. The others have
41:35farm trees. This one has the fountain and the courtyards are meant to keep all the verandas cool in summers.
41:45We've noticed in summer that this does make a lot of difference because when there's
41:50breeze flowing right through from one side to the other, the corridors get very cool and the sound of
41:58water is so soothing. I like the courtyard. It's got like pountains coming out of water
42:05and it reaches all the way to this height so when we look down from the terrace then you can see the water
42:11coming out of water.
42:19Lakshmi Villas Palace and the Gaikwad family remain extremely important to the people of Varadharam.
42:27The palace and the dynasty are a symbol of a proud past and a bright future.
42:33There was a time when the palace was known by the family. Now the family is known by the palace.
42:38You know, times have changed. You know, all over the world there are palaces. You have palaces even in Russia,
42:42but you don't have the czar anymore, you know. Or in China, but you don't have the emperor anymore.
42:48So, you know, when you do have a family and a palace and the two are still entwined, I think
42:55it's important to keep them together.
42:59An impossible mix of high-tech engineering and stunning culturally fused architecture,
43:06Lakshmi Villas still stands as proudly today as it did in 1890.
43:12Here we are, after several knocks and earthquakes.
43:16About 130 years later.
43:20I think the structure has seen a lot of other buildings topple under its own weight. So,
43:24it says a lot about the engineering and quality of the time.
43:32It's taken me 17 years and I'm still discovering more aspects and more beauty. And my daughters now have
43:38better eyesight than me. And they're all, look at that mama, look at that curvature and look at that
43:42peacock there. And there is so much to be still discovered because it's so beautifully intertwined.
43:54Up now, experts attempt to solve medical mysteries that have baffled other doctors
43:58in the new series, Michael Moseley, What's My Diagnosis? Or over on SBS Viceland,
44:04the search for precious artefacts continues in the Curse of Oak Island.