Culture, History, Places

Lakshmi Vilas Palace

He pioneered the Indo-Saracenic style or architecture and built grand landmarks across India. And yet, he did not trust his own designs and never saw his finest creation completed. This is the story of Maj. Charles Mant and his masterpiece - the Lakshmi Vilas Palace at Vadodara, the world’s largest private residence.

Image attributions

1. Lakshmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara

Birsa Murmu, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lakshmi_Vilas_Palace,_Vadodara.jpg

2. Maharaja Sayaji Rao, portrait by Raja Ravi Varma

Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raja_Ravi_Varma,_Maharaja_Sayaji_Rao.jpg

3. Sayajirao III Gaekwad, Maharaja of Borada

Lafayette, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sayajirao_Gaekwad_III,_Maharaja_of_Baroda,_1919.jpg

4. Laxmi Vilas Palace, Baroda, c. 1890

See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laxmi_Vilas_Palace,_Baroda_(c._1890).jpg

5. Bibi Ka Maqbara tomb, Aurangabad

Pranaysahu26, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bibi_Ka_Maqbara_-_The_Taj_Of_Deccan.jpg

6. A 12th-century chatri, Jaisalmir

Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bairisal_Borj_(Jaisalmer_Fort),_Jaisalmer,_Jodhpur,_Rajasthan,_India_(2012).jpg

7. Minaret at the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus

Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minaret_of_Qayt_Bey,_Umayyad_Mosque.jpg

8. A jharokha in Maheshwar Fort, Madhya Pradesh

Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maheshwar_Fort_-_Jharokha_02.jpg

9. Jaaliwork at the Barber’s Tomb, Delhi

Soham Mitra, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:At_Barber%27s_Tomb.jpg

10. Mysore Palace

Wanderlust Megha, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mysore_palace_June2025_01.jpg

11. New Palace, Kolhapur

Kumbhar Pranav, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KolhapurPalace.jpg

12. Ujjayanta Palace, Agartala

PP Yoonus, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Land_mark_agartala.jpeg

13. Sayaji Rao Gaekwad with sister Tara Bai and adoptive mother Jamna Bai

unknown phtographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Group_portrait_withTara_Bai_Jamna_Bai_and_the_Gaekwar_of_Baroda.jpg

14. Mayo college, Ajmer

Photograph by vincent Desjardins in flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/endymion120/

15. Darbhanga House, Patna

Sumitsurai, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Darbhanga_House_-_Patna_(13).jpg

16. New Palace, Kolhapur

Vijayshankar.munoli, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kolhapur_New_Palace.jpg

17. Architect Robert Fellowes Chisholm

Victorian Web, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Fellowes_Chisholm_(1).jpg

Tags: Charles Mant, Indo Saracenic Architecture, Lakshmi Vilas Palace, Sayaji Rao Gaekwad, Vadodara

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