Ever since my first visit to the northeastern state of Assam and Meghalaya, I have always had that fondness of travelling back there. The second visit provided itself in one of my closest friends birthday but that was a day only. It was not enough, it was just a hop-in hop-out trip.
Well as the saying goes if it's happened twice then definitely it will happen a third time.
True enough I did get to travel to the northeast again. Although the trip was scheduled for just ten days and meant to be a recce, it soon turned out to be a trip in actual search of places, people and stories.
Gleefully excited at the fact I am going to the north east I even gave up the chance of the Andamans which was the others place in the offering. Many a friend has suggested I go to the Andamans as the scenic beauty is second to none, but my heart just wanted to go to the Northeast.
The travel day started pretty early and by mid noon I was in the state of Tripura. First impressions of the state and I was baffled as I travelled by auto from the station to the hotel about 15kms away. All or most of the shops were closed. The northeast know for its political instability has many a traveller worried and I was no exception. Upon enquiring my auto driver says that they are shut because the owners are taking a siesta. Whew. Thankfully it wasn't a Hartal or a bandh. The same scene welcomed me when I reached the city and found shops shut.
I meet up with a few people in the university, historians and enquire about the neer mahal palace in udaipur, Tripura. Yes it's not a typo, neer mahal palace, udaipur. The basic information on the palace is that the maharaja of Tripura was very fond of travelling and was impressed with the neer mahal palace in udaipur Rajasthan that he returned back and commissioned a British company to build him one on a lake in a city he renamed udaipur. The eccentricities of our maharajas!
The next day I travel to see the neer mahal palace and it sure must have been magnificent in its hey day but today lies in neglect and due to global warming the water levels are low. Still u get there by boat and on entry you truly feel like royalty. The white painted walls of the palace glimmers in the sun and gives you the effect of marble the wide arch ways welcomes you to a place once meant only for the king and his guests.
What was once an opulent resort or vacation spot for the king today lies in ruins and desperate for care. The palace is being renovated by a South Indian company and hence was able to strike up a conversation with the engineer and learn more about the palace. This conversation also gave me a chance to see the cordoned off portion of the palaces royal quarters. The ball room for the king, the ball room for the queen, the royal entry, the royal rooms, the gardens, the servants quarters and also the royal bathroom. The palace was built in the early 20th century afforded the British architect to put in European style bathrooms with marble and inlays of precious stones.
Today all this is in ruins and the engineer responsible for the restoration explained the technology involved to make the palace earthquake proof. Being a water palace the existence of water is vital for the existence of the palace. The reason being the pressure exerted by the water and the pressure exerted by the building join together in being key factors for the building to remain as is. The absence of one pressure is enough to collapse.
Parts of the palace have already collapsed and efforts are being made for restricting further damage by modern technology. The kind of technology used then still amazes me. Every place I visit I always wonder the same question aloud, how? We today find it difficult to make buildings stay intact for 5 years and that too using too many machineries and advanced materials, while the old had just people and stones and the buildings last for ever!
Well I do hope that they are able to implement all the changes proposed and on my next trip to Tripura I am able to fully understand and appreciate the true workmanship and opulence of the erstwhile maharajas of India.
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