Inside The World’s Largest Private Home: India’s Lakshmi Vilas Palace

Hello AD.

I'm Radhika Raje Gaekwad and I welcome you home.

[classical music]

The palace was started in 1879

and completed in 1890.

Took 11 years in the making.

A palace of this size, 11 years is actually quite short.

The stone was sourced locally is Dhrangadhra sandstone,

but a lot of the other elements

came in from different parts of the country

and also the world.

We have stained glass from Europe,

we have chandeliers from England and Belgium,

and Mosaic from Italy, sculptures from around Europe.

It's an amazing mix of countries and cultures

coming together in this space.

I've lived in Lakshmi Vilas Palace for 23 years now,

and even though the home is over 135 years old,

it's always been a home.

We have these informal spaces within this very, very ornate

and sometimes overwhelming spaces.

We are able to carve our little, little pockets

of quite cute and family time.

I'm flooded by memories

of my children playing here with the dogs,

me having a cup of coffee with my husband

here on winter mornings.

When I first came married,

and I remember in this very courtyard,

I would sit down here on these stairs

and music will trickle down

from the window of my father-in-law's music studio.

And I would just sit here and listen to that.

So, you know, all these spaces become home

the more you live in them

and more memories you accumulate.

They know more remain just walls and carvings.

We are now in the grandest

and most important public space of the palace.

It's called the Darbar Hall.

This is where the Raja would host, greet,

and attend to his subjects.

And most recently, the space where Narendra Modi,

our Prime Minister and the Spanish premier

met for bilateral talks.

So it continues to remain relevant

and important in state matters.

This space just knocks the wind out of me

every time I walk in here.

From the mosaic flooring with its malachite Mother of Pearl,

to the mosaic with its gold leaf on the walls.

It still glints when it catches light.

The ceiling, which is Islamic,

it's in Lacer.

The beautiful jharokha

which are a mix of rose and sandalwood,

the beautiful reliefs by Felici.

This is really a space

which is meant to talk about the collaborations

that came to exist 135 years ago

between India and other cultures.

One of the spaces that really fascinates me is this.

I love the adaptation of an Indian traditional motive

into a Western European craft style.

So we have this rangoli,

this particular design,

I have seen a lot in powdered rice

and women of the house would make this particular pattern

and it would be done outside the doorway.

This is very, very special that,

you know, something as traditional and intimate as a rangoli

is adapted in a mosaic form

done by Italian craftspeople.

Another example, again,

are these spectacular stain glasses.

We have Yashodha and Bala Krishna in two of them,

and then you have Ram and Sita.

This is where the Maharja would be seated.

This is where the audience would be.

We are receiving the blessings of the deities

right here in this space.

Another favorite of mine are these angels.

As you can see, they are completely Indianized.

They are in nine yards sarees, very Maharashtrian

and they have these beautiful crowns and earrings

and they're blowing trumpets right at the entrance.

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We are now in the most sacred part of the palace.

This is the coronation room

where the Maharaja is coordinated,

and this is the Gadi.

It's actually really quite simple.

The Maharaja is seated on this throne only once in his life.

So right behind the Gadi, we have the Sitabhoomi Pravesh,

which is the departing of Sita from Ram

when she is being surrendered

and retreating into the earth

and saying her final goodbye to the family.

This is to indicate to the Maharaja who is seated here

that duty always comes first.

Across the hall, we have

the most important paintings

of the Royal Gaekwad Collection,

and they are the Lakshmi and Saraswati by Raja Ravi Varma.

These are the most recognized paintings of Indian mythology,

and we have the originals here,

and they're basically facing the throne,

blessing the legacy and the the dynasty.

This room evokes a lot of emotions for me.

This was the seat of power of the Gaekwad dynasty.

It is underplayed by the Gadi,

which is very humble and simple.

But the artworks that surround this Gadi

are indicative of how important this hall was.

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So we are in one of our private courtyards.

This is a space that most of our rooms overlook,

and this is one of our quieter, private spaces.

This particular fountain is one of my favorites.

I love the tiles here.

We have documentation that Royal Dalton

had actually designed a fountain for this space.

A day at Laxshmi Vilas Palace actually

is quite usual and unusual.

It has the regular chores and chaos

of waking up in the morning, getting kids ready for school,

grabbing a cup of coffee,

but it also gives you incredible moments to pause

and soak in the historic monument, if I may use the word,

that I live in.

The palace was really ahead of its time

for more than one reason.

It was of course, fitted with the latest amenities.

It has one of the oldest lifts in Western India.

It had concealed lighting.

Over time, it had air conditioning before most institutions.

It was also very modern for the vision

that it had at that point of time.

The palace was built for only the Maharaja and Maharani,

and yet you see that there is an equal positioning of both.

There is no defined cloistered space

for the women of the house.

So Parda was not followed here,

which is quite unusual for its times.

And even today, after 23 years of living in this house,

it's still so much to discover in this home.

And I recently discovered some carvings of monkeys

and scorpions, snakes.

They're only in a particular area.

I'd been walking past them all these years,

but never noticed.

[classical music]

We are now in our private drawing room.

This is where we entertain our guests.

It's done in the French style.

It's got wooden paneling,

it looks very much like it did

when it was first created for the family.

We've got a little bit of personal touch with the cushions.

We've got beautiful artworks from around the world.

My favorite being these chiseled shells from Italy.

I like my time here, I play music.

It's a lovely view outside.

I get a view of the golf course and the expands.

And of course, the beauty inside.

My girls are here with the dogs ever so often on the carpet.

It's really a space where we chill and relax.

I think this is a space where we've

kind of all tried to contribute a little bit of ourselves.

I've never been able to bring in a souvenir,

say, a tribal mass from Africa

and plant it on the walls here.

It would be travesty.

It's very hard to strike that balance

between maintaining traditional buildings in a Puritan way

as well as bringing in modernity.

The palace has such a strong personality

and it should be able to take you back those 135 years

for someone who steps in.

But at the same time, we have to also be able to

provide the basic comforts to ourselves and our family.

Interestingly, this palace was made only for two people,

for the Maharaja and Maharani.

So we didn't have that many guest rooms,

and as the family's grown, we did require them.

So we've converted a boiler room into a guest room

and it's now one of our cosiest rooms.

[gentle music]

I think if the walls of Laxshmi Vilas Palace were to speak,

they would say that this has been a happy home

for generations of Gaekwads.

Laxshmi Vilas Palace will always be home for us,

but as time flies, we also realize that

we all need to adapt with the changes

that the palace requires.

[classical music]

Thank you AD for visiting my home.

See you again soon.

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