Thirumalai Nayakkar
Mahal is a 17th century palace erected by Thirumalai Nayak of
Madurai’s Nayak dynasty. The palace which is seen today was the main palace
where the king lived. The original palace is believed to be four times bigger
than the present one.
Entrance of the palace
The king
constructed the palace to mark the shift of his capital from Tiruchi to Madurai.
He is said to have utilized the services of an Italian architect to design the
palace.
It is famous for
its giant pillars. While the arches
and domes reflect the Indo-Saracenic style, the pillars are a testimony of
Gothic style.
Unfortunately, King’s
grandson demolished much of the structure in later years to build his own
palace in Tiruchi. He removed most of the jewels and wood carvings to build his
palace. However, the palace was never constructed.
The Dance Hall
Whatever remains of
the palace that we find at present is mainly because of the reconstruction that
was undertaken by Lord Napier, Governor of Madras in 1870.
The Main Hall of the palace
The structure was
constructed using foliated brickwork. The surface details and the exquisite
stucco work was done using shell lime (chunnam) mixed with egg white to get a smooth
and glossy texture.
One surely must have seen the palace pillars in the famous movie "Bombay" and its' well-known song "Kehna hi kya..."
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