Vijay Vilas Palace, Mandvi - A Photo Essay !!!

I was writing my last post on Laxmi Vilas Palace of Vadodara and realised though I had written about Vijay Vilas Palace of Mandvi under collective, I had missed a dedicated post for all the pics I had clicked of it. So here is a photo essay of Vijay Vilas Palace, which I visited few years back.

Though Vijay Vilas is not as magnificent as Vadodara's Laxmi Vilas it was Ashutosh Gowariker's movies which made Kutch and Vijay Vilas Palace famous. Sets of his movies Lagaan and Mohenjo Daro were set in Kutch. The palace appeared as the British Royal residence in Lagaan and Aishwarya Rai's house in Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam. 

This redstone structure was built by Maharaja Rao Vijayrajji, the Maharaja of Kutch. The structure is built in Rajput style with traces of Bengal adding to its beauty. Being a summer retreat, the palace is small compared to other palaces of the region and houses few artefacts, furniture and photoframes

The palace is surrounded by thick green which shelters peacocks, jackals and wild ass. The top most floor has an arched balcony and gives beautiful view of the surrounding green.

Maharaja Vijayraji's Chhatri as seen from balcony

Mandvi Beach and Royal family private beach as seen from the top floor of the palace.

That seems like wild boar head, not sure though

Travel Tips

Vijay Vilas Palace is around 7km from Mandvi city and can be best reached by private vehicle. Its another half a km walk from the vehicle parking area to the palace.

Entry Fee

Regular Days 5 years to 11 years Rs. 15/-, above 11 years 30/-

Sundays and Public Holidays 5 years to 11 years Rs. 25/-, above 11 years 45/-

Mobile Camera Rs. 25/-

Still Camera Rs. 50/-

Video Camera 200/-

Timings

9:00 am to 6:00 pm

5 Things we did at Mandvi!!

Mandvi is an hours drive from Bhuj city, after our lunch at Shree Swaminarayan Temple, we left for Mandvi. As we drove through the Bhuj-Mandvi road, we could feel a completely contrasting view from our previous days drive to White Rann. While the route to Rann stretched in sands till our sight reached, this route to Mandvi was full of greenery with Sarso ke kheth(mustard fields)too. Our driver called this road samruddh rastha(wealthy road, in-terms of vegetation) which supplies vegetation of Kutch. Mandvi had been the summer retreat for the Kutch rulers for its pleasant weather and was once a major port of Kutch, which connected Far East and Middle East Asian ports. Here is what we did at Mandvi,

5. Visited 72 Jinalay: Just 10km before Mandvi is Bautar Jinalay(Bahttar Jinalay/72 temples), at Koday village. Have you by any chance watched the bollywood movie Khiladi 786, if yes then you know how the movie is related to 72 Jinalay, that was the first thing hubby remembered when I told him we were going to Bautar Jinalay. Like any other Jain temple, the temple is a great white marble structure with intricate carvings, photography is strictly prohibited inside the main temple. The main temple is dedicated to Lord Mahavira, the 24th theerthankara and surrounding the temple are 72 shrines dedicated to other theerthankaras, depicting idols from different siddhakshetr(holy places) across India. Gents are not allowed to enter in shorts, the temple caretaker provides you with a cloth, to wrap around to get inside the temple.

4. Ship Building Yard: I kept reminding my taxi driver, I wanted to visit the Ship Building Yard through out our drive to Mandvi and he said "don't worry madam, you can't miss it, when you are at Mandvi". He was right, as we entered Mandvi city, we could find huge ships being built on the banks of Rukmavati river(river which separates Mandvi city and Salaya). We were told this 400years old building yard has built many ships, which voyage between far east and middle east Asia. Its also said, few ships built here also sailed to Europe.

3. Watched Flamingos at Rukmavati River: Kutch is a treasure of immigrant birds and you can find them at almost every lake and river here in Kutch. When we got down at the ship building yard, flamingos, herons, stilts all were as close as few steps from us and that reminded our visit to Sewri in Mumbai, when we watched Flamingos with binoculars and no way could my cam capture them. A visit to Kutch during winter will treat you with these lovely winged beauties.

2. Visited Vijay Vilas Palace: Vijay Vilas Palace is one of the famous palaces of the region for, many Bollwood movies been shot here, palace of Lagaan movie or Aishwarya's house in Hum Dil De Chuke Saman and many more. The palace is around 7km from Mandvi city. Built in red stone in Rajput style, it has a collection of artifacts, furniture, photographs in display. The top floor of the palace gives a view of surrounding greens, the private beach of the palace and the Mandvi beach.

1. Enjoyed sunset at Mandvi Beach: Our day at Mandvi ended with a visit to Mandvi beach for sunset. A not so crowded beach, has pony and camel rides, parasailing and water scooter. There is a small play area for kids as well. Huge windmills lined up on the beach, makes it unique from other beaches.

We drove back to Bhuj by around 8 in the night, had dinner at Green Rock, on Chatti Bari ring road and boarded our train back to Mumbai the same night.

Travel Tips:
Check my post Kutch Diaries Travel Plan to plan your visit to Mandvi
72 Jinalay:
Timings: Open through out the day.
Entry Free
Photographing not allowed inside the temple.
The temple complex has accommodation and dining facility too..

Vijay Vilas Palace:Timings: Open from 9AM to 1PM and 3PM to 6PM
Entry Fee:

• Week days:
•  5years to 11years: Rs. 15/-
• Above 11 years: Rs. 30/-

• Sundays and Holidays:
• 5years to 11years: Rs. 25/-
• Above 11 years: Rs.45/-

• Mobile Camera: Rs. 25/-
• Still Camera: Rs. 50/-
• Video Camera: Rs. 200/-
• Parking for Private vehicles: Rs. 10/-