Written by léonie sidwick | 05 July 2010

The Lalgarh Palace was commissioned in 1902 by the British for the then Maharaja Ganga Singh who succeeded his brother aged 7. The British decided that Fort Junagarh was not suitable for a modern ruler and assigned the British architect Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob to design a more modern palace. The palace is now split into three wings, two are now hotels and the third is the private residence of the Bikaner royal family. The royal family have dedicated space to the Shri Sadul Museum which houses the fourth largest private library in the world and personal items from previous Maharajahs including golf tees and ear plugs. The palace and hotels are not open to visitors but most of the family photos displayed inside the palace are also viewable in the museum.