Neermahal

Neermahal (নীরমহল) (meaning “Water Palace”) is a former royal palace built by King Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur of the erstwhile Kingdom of Tripura, India in the middle of the lake Rudrasagar in 1930 and was completed by 1938. It is situated in Melaghar, 53 kilometers away from the Agartala, the capital of Tripura. The palace is situated in the middle of Rudrasagar Lake and assimilates Hindu and Muslim architectural styles.

The palace is the largest of its kind in India and the only one in Eastern India. There are only two water palace in India another one is the Jal Mahal in Rajasthan.

Known as ‘lake palace’ of Tripura, Neer-Mahal was constructed as a summer residence. It was Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur’s idea to build a palace in the beautiful Rudrasagar lake and in 1921 he accredited the British company Martin and Burns to construct the palace for him. The company took nine years to complete the work. Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur belonged to the ‘Manikya Dynasty’ which is supposed to be the second from a single line in the world today.

The palace is the establishment of Maharaja’s great taste and his fascinating idea of blending Hindu and Muslim traditions and cultures.

The palace is divided into two parts. The western side of the palace is known as Andar Mahal. It was made for the royal family. The eastern side is an open-air theatre where drama, theatre, dance and other cultural events were organized for the enjoyment of Maharajas and their royal families. The palace has 24 rooms in total.

Neer-Mahal has two stairways inside leading down to a landing on the water of Rudrasagar Lake. Maharajas used to go to the palace by hand powered boat from ‘Rajghat’.

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