Sambalpur: A palace complex, once lying in ruins in the heart of the town, could shortly become the next tourist attraction in the city.
A cluster of palaces, built by different kings of the region, had been lying in neglect near the Patneswari Temple here. W.R. Gibert, a political agent of the British, had painted a picture of the cluster in 1825, highlighting the magnificence of the era and the construction. The painting is now in The British Library in London. The oldest among these, Jaru Mahal, was built by Balabhadra Sai in 1600. However, decades of neglect has reduced Jaru Mahal and another palace to dust. The only one that is still standing, Jemadei Mahal, popularly known as Rani Bakhri or Queen's Palace, is undergoing renovation. Built by Baliar Singh in the 1650s as an additional palace for his queen, it now bears the name of his daughter Jemadei. However, since its heyday, the building had been neglected and lying in such a dilapidated state that many local residents were not even aware of its existence despite passing by it regularly on their way to Ma Samaleswari temple, the town's presiding deity, located 100m from the palace.
Finally, once the Sambalpur chapter of the Indian National Trust of Cultural Heritage (Intach) was set uparound four years ago, the local residents took up an initiative for the palace's conservation. Responding to their suggestions, members from Intach's state chapter and Delhi visited the place and prepared a detailed project report and submitted it to the tourism and culture department. Cultural affairs minister Ashok Chandra Panda, in consultation with local MLA Raseswari Panigrahi, allocated Rs 1 crore for the project, following which the renovation started.
Conservators removed plasters from the walls, and after stitching the cracks, plastered those using lime and other mixtures as used in the 1650s.
Panda, during his last visit to the town in early 2017, reviewed the progress and directed officials to complete the work as soon as possible.
"The work is going on in full swing and has almost reached the finishing point," Deepak Panda, researcher and Intach member said.
"Once completed, it will be another tourist attraction. We have tried to maintain the old structure as much as possible," Panda said.
But the lack of an approach road to the palace has become a major hurdle for the conservators. Revenue officials had distributed the land around the palace for residential homes. Intach has suggested that the state government compensate the home owners concerned to vacate the land for passage. According to estimates, it would require about Rs 60 lakh for the purpose and Intach is still awaiting a response from the government. Intach is also eager to come up with an art and photography gallery at the palace.
