Marble Palace - A visual treat
Every city has some history and heritage... But if the city is Kolkata (Calcutta) that has a colonial past too then the history brings with it so much of grandeur and heritage about which we can be proud of. If you and interested in heritage and truly wish to experience how the aristocratic families used to live in those days then head strait to "Marble Palace" - A 19th-century Classical mansion with an eclectic collection of antiques.
Marble Palace was built by Raja Rajendra Mullick who was known to be an opulent Bengali businessman with a passion to collect exquisite works of art. Named after the material used to build its walls and floors, the palace is a 19th century mansion, made in 1835, located in the heart of North Kolkata, very much near the famous "Jorasanko Thakur Bari" ancestral home of Rabindra nath Tagore. It is said that the marbles used to built this place include 126 different types of colorful Italian Marble, and that the palace was named ‘Marble Palace’ by Lord Minto.
Next we go to the "Function Room", Also on Ground Floor, is a long room with Italian Marble Flooring. There was a time Parties were arranged inside this room and many dignitaries used to honour the occasion. The room has two big Marble tables at two ends and have bronze Statues of Nepoleon Bonaparte riding a horse on them. in front of these Statues are two symbolic lamps (diyaas) with flames made from Marble that add elegance to the already beautiful statues. There is a Grand Piano in this room that was once played by the family members... but now, though in perfect playing condition, is kept locked. You get to see some very beautiful chandeliers, made with Belgian Glasses, hanging from ceiling. In those days since electricity was not there so candles were lit inside the chandeliers. There are many bronze and marble statues inside the Function room and it looks awesome. The Statues are in sets... like their are four statues for four seasons and two for Dawn and night. Even Concepts like Agriculture and commerce are depicted using Statues. At one of the corner of Function room, there is a showcase that has many gifts that the family members of the Mullick household received from the guests. The Gifts also include a big ivory tooth. Many Musical instruments are also on display here.
After seeing the Function room the guests are guided to the courtyard in the center of the building that has a place of worship and is called the Thakurdalan. The main Poojas of the house are done here only. Thakurdalans are an important part of buildings made in Bengal architecture. In traditional families they have a permanent Ceremonial Platform. It is either separate from the main residential area or are in the middle of the building as in Marble Palace. This Ceremonial Platform is called the Thakurdalan. It generally accompanies a courtyard where people gather to see the pujas. There are two Lion statues that guard the Thakurdalan.
In this Thakurdalan Kali Puja and Saraswati Puja is celebrated. During Durga puja only Chandi Path happens and a Photo of Maa Durga is placed in place of an idol... The Family Durga puja is celebrated in another house of the Mullicks at Natun Bazaar. In total there are four families of the Mullicks (25 family members in total) that stay here in this palace. So there are parts of the building that are out of bounds for visitors. There are some caretakers, servants and security people also that stay in the servants quarters in this premises only. There are many statues in the courtyard. The corridor that surrounds the open space has some beautiful Chandeliers made with Belgian Glasses that adds grandeur to the magnificence of the palace. The corridor also houses some rare and exotic birds in cages. There are Macaws, Grey parrots, love birds, to name a few, in the collection.
At the end of the corridor there are wooden stairs to go to the first floor. Before you step on the stairs you can see a half-bust marble statue of Queen Victoria. I was wondering why they don't allow photography inside the building coz if they allowed then there are so many wonderful artifacts in this palace that on seeing them more and more people will start coming here.... On the wall while going up... you see a series of world class paintings by renowned artists... Some paintings are of "Queen Victoria", "Galileo", "Venus and Adonis" (inspired by Shakespeare's poem of same name), and "Madonna and Child" (Madonna, a representation of Mary, holding child Jesus). Here for the first time in our tour of the palace we see a portrait of the owner of this palace "Raja Rajendra Mullick" beautifully framed and gracefully placed on the wall overlooking the Stairs. There's a very big painting by the most celebrated Indian painter and artist "Raja Ravi Varma" at the end of the stairs. Raja Ravi Varma is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art, and having his painting in someone's art collection means a lot.
On the First floor first we see is a series of Chandeliers and Marble & Bronze Statues of Venus, Orphan, Cleopatra and many more. There are some of the finest Chinese Ceramic Vases, beautiful paintings and sculptures on display too.
At this point we were led to the first room of the first floor... that is the "Dancing Room" (the room doesn't dance but dances used to happen in this room 😆 ) The showstopper of this room is a pair of huge mirrors made with Belgian glass. These mirrors have thick ornate golden (colored) wooden frame with creative designs made with plaster of Paris.This is a very long room which earlier had carpet on the floor... later the owners wanted to have marble/tile flooring... but after starting the work they realized that since the building is very old it can not take the weight of the new flooring... so only 20 percent of the floor is covered with marble tiles. The room, like other rooms, has Belgian glass chandeliers that earlier had candle stands in them. Now the same are replaced with bulbs. There are some very beautiful statues... One of them is that of Columbus. There are few beautiful chairs with intricate designs placed in this room for the guests to sit. There's also a red round sofa at the center on which 5 people can sit together. Since in those days electricity was not there and candles can not illuminate the room so well... so they placed some structures that had crystal spheres that reflected the light from the chandeliers. A very big painting of "The Last Supper" also adorns the wall of this room.
The corridor is full of exquisite Marble, wooden and bronze statues and a few Chandeliers. There are beautiful Chinese vases also. I saw a wooden Chimpanzee statue that looks very much real... there's also a very big Hookah from which 5 people can smoke at a time. "Meeting Room" is closed for renovation. It has a very unique yet beautiful painting... It has two horses that change position when you see it from different directions of the room.
The next room that we see is the "Painting Room". As the name suggests, this room is filled with many rare paintings by renowned artists including Murillo, Titian and John Opie. There are paintings of "St. Sebastian", "Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpent" (the Roman hero and God), "Marriage of Saint Catherine", "Danaë and the Shower of Gold", "Venus and Cupid" and many more. Another great attraction of this room is the Grand Father's clock that is bigger in size that the Grandmother's clock that we saw downstairs. The guide told us that Marble Palace houses 82 different types of exquisite clocks in their collection. One unique painting of a lady is also there. If you look at it from any corner of the room... it seems as if the lady is looking at you.
Once you are done seeing the palace, you will be asked for some Bakhsheesh (tips). So for a small group of two Rs.50/- is good.
Outside the building there is a sprawling lawn and at one side of it is a temple of the family deity Lord Jagannath... though only family members are allowed inside the temple. There is also a small zoo... It is said that it was the first private zoo opened in India, by Raja Rajendra Mullick. It houses many birds and deers.
I saw birds like Silver Pheasant, Indian Grey Hornbill, Kalij Pheasant, Rosy Pelican and Golden Pheasant in the collection. There is a small Deer park that even has many types of deers including few Spotted Deers also called Cheetal. There are Giant Squirrels, Bengal Porcupines also in the collection.
While coming out of the building you will again be asked for Bakhsheesh (tips)... so here Rs. 20/- is OK. Overall I loved the whole palace and the artifacts. But what I feel is there should be a proper entry fee that should be utilized in maintaining the place. Also photography should be allowed inside the Palace...
Here's the address and the map location of the Marble Palace:
Address : 46, Muktaram Babu Street, Jorasanko, Kolkata, West Bengal 700007, Jorasanko, Kolkata, West Bengal 700007
Opening Time : 10:00 AM
Closing Time : 04:00 PM
Closed on : Mondays, Thursdays and during Durga Puja
Entery fee : Free
Authorization : Permission required from West Bengal Tourism Department
Contact No : 033 2269 3310
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| Marble Palace; Source:Flickr |
Marble Palace was built by Raja Rajendra Mullick who was known to be an opulent Bengali businessman with a passion to collect exquisite works of art. Named after the material used to build its walls and floors, the palace is a 19th century mansion, made in 1835, located in the heart of North Kolkata, very much near the famous "Jorasanko Thakur Bari" ancestral home of Rabindra nath Tagore. It is said that the marbles used to built this place include 126 different types of colorful Italian Marble, and that the palace was named ‘Marble Palace’ by Lord Minto.
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| An old Photo of Marble Palace; Source: Wikipedia |
Entry permission needs to be taken from Tourism Department at least a day before the intended day of visit. Else come directly and fill up the Visitor Register. You should carry a valid identity card with you. Photography is strictly not allowed inside the palace premises. You will be assigned a guide who will help you with the history and give you a tour of the house in lieu of a small baksheesh (fee/tip).
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| Lawn and sculptures @ Marble Palace; Source: Wikipedia |
The permission needs to be taken from either of these two addresses:
Department of Tourism,
Government of West Bengal,
2, Brabourne Road
Kolkata - 700 001
Phone: +91-33-2225-4565/8183/4723-25
Fax:+91-33-2225-4565
E-mail: dtwbtour@vsnl.net
Government of West Bengal,
2, Brabourne Road
Kolkata - 700 001
Phone: +91-33-2225-4565/8183/4723-25
Fax:+91-33-2225-4565
E-mail: dtwbtour@vsnl.net
Tourism Centre,
3/2 B.B.D. Bag (East)
Kolkata - 700 001
Phone: +91-33-2248 8271/5168
2210-3199, 2243-7260
Fax: +91-33-22485168
3/2 B.B.D. Bag (East)
Kolkata - 700 001
Phone: +91-33-2248 8271/5168
2210-3199, 2243-7260
Fax: +91-33-22485168
The mansion has a grand portico with stucco work and six Tuscan columns and the ground floor and first floor each have 14 Corinthian columns. You either have to remove your shoes or else you can wear a shoe cover available at the building entry point. Lush green landscape with gardens, Statues and water bodies. We even saw a family member Mr. T. Mullick riding a horse in a cowboy style. It gave us a glimpse of the lifestyle of these zamindars and businessmen of yesteryears.
We went on a Sunday... Since we didn't have a proper permission so we requested the guard at the gate... They asked us to write our details in a register and proceed to the side of the building that has the entrance. Though before leaving the gate we were asked not to take photos as photography was not permitted.
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| The Notice; Source: Tripadvisor |
We were welcomed by few more caretakers and were asked to write our details with the registration number of any ID proof. We covered our shoes and started our palace tour with an aged but active guide from Odisha... He knew Bangla, Hindi, English and Odiya.
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| The Side View of Marble palace; Source: Tripadvisor |
The first room that we saw was the "Billiards Room"... It's a very big rectangular room with a huge Billiards Table, Though the Billiards table is covered with a cloth so u can't actually see it. The room is well decorated with chandeliers... Marble and Plaster of Paris Statues of Apollo, Venus, and Satyr Resting. This room has a big Grandmother clock , for which one has to wind the key once in a week. it looks like this:
The next room that we see is the "Victoria Room". This Room is also very big but smallar than the Billiards Room. In the middle of the room there is a 11 feet (approx.) tall black wooden statue of Queen Victoria. The base of the statue is made with plaster of Paris. The room has two more half Bust wooden and one bronze statues of Queen Victoria. There are few Big Chinese Vases too. There are marble statues of characters from Roman mythology like Juno and Jupiter and a bronze statue of Medusa.
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| A Grandmother clock similar to the one I saw inside Marble Palace; Source: Sellingantiques |
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| The Front View of Marble Palace; Source: Tripadvisor |
After seeing the Function room the guests are guided to the courtyard in the center of the building that has a place of worship and is called the Thakurdalan. The main Poojas of the house are done here only. Thakurdalans are an important part of buildings made in Bengal architecture. In traditional families they have a permanent Ceremonial Platform. It is either separate from the main residential area or are in the middle of the building as in Marble Palace. This Ceremonial Platform is called the Thakurdalan. It generally accompanies a courtyard where people gather to see the pujas. There are two Lion statues that guard the Thakurdalan.
 |
| The front corridor of Marble palace; Source: Tripadvisor |
In this Thakurdalan Kali Puja and Saraswati Puja is celebrated. During Durga puja only Chandi Path happens and a Photo of Maa Durga is placed in place of an idol... The Family Durga puja is celebrated in another house of the Mullicks at Natun Bazaar. In total there are four families of the Mullicks (25 family members in total) that stay here in this palace. So there are parts of the building that are out of bounds for visitors. There are some caretakers, servants and security people also that stay in the servants quarters in this premises only. There are many statues in the courtyard. The corridor that surrounds the open space has some beautiful Chandeliers made with Belgian Glasses that adds grandeur to the magnificence of the palace. The corridor also houses some rare and exotic birds in cages. There are Macaws, Grey parrots, love birds, to name a few, in the collection.
At the end of the corridor there are wooden stairs to go to the first floor. Before you step on the stairs you can see a half-bust marble statue of Queen Victoria. I was wondering why they don't allow photography inside the building coz if they allowed then there are so many wonderful artifacts in this palace that on seeing them more and more people will start coming here.... On the wall while going up... you see a series of world class paintings by renowned artists... Some paintings are of "Queen Victoria", "Galileo", "Venus and Adonis" (inspired by Shakespeare's poem of same name), and "Madonna and Child" (Madonna, a representation of Mary, holding child Jesus). Here for the first time in our tour of the palace we see a portrait of the owner of this palace "Raja Rajendra Mullick" beautifully framed and gracefully placed on the wall overlooking the Stairs. There's a very big painting by the most celebrated Indian painter and artist "Raja Ravi Varma" at the end of the stairs. Raja Ravi Varma is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art, and having his painting in someone's art collection means a lot.
On the First floor first we see is a series of Chandeliers and Marble & Bronze Statues of Venus, Orphan, Cleopatra and many more. There are some of the finest Chinese Ceramic Vases, beautiful paintings and sculptures on display too.
At this point we were led to the first room of the first floor... that is the "Dancing Room" (the room doesn't dance but dances used to happen in this room 😆 ) The showstopper of this room is a pair of huge mirrors made with Belgian glass. These mirrors have thick ornate golden (colored) wooden frame with creative designs made with plaster of Paris.This is a very long room which earlier had carpet on the floor... later the owners wanted to have marble/tile flooring... but after starting the work they realized that since the building is very old it can not take the weight of the new flooring... so only 20 percent of the floor is covered with marble tiles. The room, like other rooms, has Belgian glass chandeliers that earlier had candle stands in them. Now the same are replaced with bulbs. There are some very beautiful statues... One of them is that of Columbus. There are few beautiful chairs with intricate designs placed in this room for the guests to sit. There's also a red round sofa at the center on which 5 people can sit together. Since in those days electricity was not there and candles can not illuminate the room so well... so they placed some structures that had crystal spheres that reflected the light from the chandeliers. A very big painting of "The Last Supper" also adorns the wall of this room.
The corridor is full of exquisite Marble, wooden and bronze statues and a few Chandeliers. There are beautiful Chinese vases also. I saw a wooden Chimpanzee statue that looks very much real... there's also a very big Hookah from which 5 people can smoke at a time. "Meeting Room" is closed for renovation. It has a very unique yet beautiful painting... It has two horses that change position when you see it from different directions of the room.
The next room that we see is the "Painting Room". As the name suggests, this room is filled with many rare paintings by renowned artists including Murillo, Titian and John Opie. There are paintings of "St. Sebastian", "Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpent" (the Roman hero and God), "Marriage of Saint Catherine", "Danaë and the Shower of Gold", "Venus and Cupid" and many more. Another great attraction of this room is the Grand Father's clock that is bigger in size that the Grandmother's clock that we saw downstairs. The guide told us that Marble Palace houses 82 different types of exquisite clocks in their collection. One unique painting of a lady is also there. If you look at it from any corner of the room... it seems as if the lady is looking at you.
 |
| The Painting Room; Image Courtesy: DailyMail |
Outside the building there is a sprawling lawn and at one side of it is a temple of the family deity Lord Jagannath... though only family members are allowed inside the temple. There is also a small zoo... It is said that it was the first private zoo opened in India, by Raja Rajendra Mullick. It houses many birds and deers.
 |
| A Pelican at the Zoo; Source: Tripadvisor |
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| Beautiful sculptures placed in the lawn; Source: Tripadvisor |
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| An ornate Victorian bench placed in the lawn; Source: Tripadvisor |
Here's the address and the map location of the Marble Palace:
Address : 46, Muktaram Babu Street, Jorasanko, Kolkata, West Bengal 700007, Jorasanko, Kolkata, West Bengal 700007
Opening Time : 10:00 AM
Closing Time : 04:00 PM
Closed on : Mondays, Thursdays and during Durga Puja
Entery fee : Free
Authorization : Permission required from West Bengal Tourism Department
Contact No : 033 2269 3310
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