When Pallab Roy (60) and his family revisited their ancestral palace in Kasim Bazar, Murshidabad, West Bengal, they were looking at ruins.
The 300-year-old architecture had fallen into a state of despair.
Insects, five-inch thick layers of dust and crumbling roofs posed a challenge to the restoration.
The place was infested with snakes and monitor lizards. Some rooms’ arches were blocked with bricks. Their doors and windows had been eaten by termites.
Today, as Pallab watches guests revel in the beauty of the palace, he shares some interesting tidbits of history.
In its heyday, the Cossimbazar Palace would have earned the ‘Buckingham of India’ moniker. The palace’s functioning was in tune with colonial times. Pallab’s grandfather was brought up by a British governess for six years.
The house had around 200 guards, and Pallab says, “There was also the ‘Changing of the Guard’ ceremony and military drills.”
There were 34 gardeners, innumerable staff and nine functioning kitchens. The crockery for the tea parties held at Cossimbazar Palace was imported from England!
But after Indian independence, things changed. The years that followed saw the palace fall to ruins.
“The furniture, aside from that in the main drawing room, had vanished. We are lucky to have some of the mirrors, sideboard tables and sofas, and have restored those,” Pallab shares.
He adds, “Three generations of photos were lost when the house was cleaned by the Government.”
The restoration process included work on the electricity and the wiring, the water connections, sinks and toilets.
“We had to replace broken furniture. And I think we changed almost 500 beams inside the palace,” Pallab says.
The front gates, the patio, the clock tower, the marble stairs leading into the main building, the north corridor, the ballroom annexes, dining room artefacts, Andar Mahal (an indoor space where the women of the palace lived), some of the temples and the interior gardens were completely restored.