Experience life by Odishas Chilika Lake on the Rambha Palace, a boutique resort with European aesthetics

A forgotten palace, with peeling partitions and cobwebbed ceilings, as soon as stood on the far finish of a quaint village in Odisha. Locals referred to as it Rani Palace. Today, it stands with its unique sheen intact, as a boutique resort, by the Chilika Lake in Rambha, a city in Ganjam district.

Rambha’s streets come alive within the evenings with outlets promoting contemporary catch off the Chilika. It is residence to a number of households who depend upon the river for a residing. Rambha Palace, a walkable distance from the lake, lets one expertise life by a lagoon in a setup match for the kings.

We arrive at its gates on a moist afternoon from Bhubaneshwar, that’s round 120 kilometres away. The palace was restored over a interval of six years by Chana Daswatte, a protégé of the favored Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. Walking previous the lobby, the partitions of which have photographs of the palace from its earlier life, we immediately really feel the antiquity of the constructing.

Everything, proper from the billiards desk, crystal chandeliers, terrazzo tiles, lime plaster partitions, sabai grass carpets, and ikkat-inspired interiors, feels proper out of a museum show, but, retains a sure newness. This is the results of the restoration staff’s guideline — to retain the soul of the unique 18th Century construction.

Himangini Singh, co-founder, Hunch Ventures and associate, Rambha Palace, who has taken the property on lease from the royal household, says that the village and the palace at all times take her again to her childhood when she would go to the Chilika together with her mother and father. When she first noticed it in its decayed state, she says, “It felt prefer it was quietly asking for a second likelihood.”

They got down to restore it utilizing supplies and strategies that have been used within the unique structure. Himangini, who performed an vital function in its restoration, provides, “Throughout the journey, we regularly requested ourselves: If Rambha’s Rani have been restoring this palace right this moment, what decisions would she make? How would she have lived? What aesthetics would she have embraced? This imagined narrative turned our compass. We drew inspiration from her envisioned values, her love for her individuals, her affinity for native expertise, her refined but grounded sensibility.”

European roots

After a late afternoon lunch of a typical Odia thali — their in-house restaurant serves native in addition to Continental and Chinese meals — head chef Gaurav Juyal walks us by the sprawling lawns with ornate fountain centrepieces. The palace, he explains, was constructed by Thomas Snodgrass, who was the Collector of Ganjam from 1791-92. “It was constructed by European architects and engineers,” he explains, including that it was ultimately purchased by king Rama Krushna Mardaraj of Khallikote and later, by king Harihar Mardaraj, who performed an important function within the Odia Movement till his loss of life in 1909.

An vital monument within the historical past of Ganjam, it was right here, explains Gaurav, that the inspiration stone of the Utkal Union Conference (UUC) was laid. The palace performed host to hundreds of delegates from the varied Odia Speaking Tracts, and the UUC ultimately result in the unification of Odisha. The fundamental construction is flanked by a printing room and ice mill room on one facet, each of which have additionally been renovated. Himangini says that the one modification they did was for the roof. “Originally divided into six smaller sections, it has now been unified right into a single, stronger roof,” she says, including that the revival was a “cautious, deliberate course of.”

The property, unfold throughout six acres, has 15 rooms for visitors. It was opened to the general public on April 1, 2024. While the queen was not capable of witness the palace after its restoration, Himangini says her household visited it, strolling by the halls and lawns. “It was an emotional second,” she says, including that their response was “one of the significant validations of every part we had hoped to realize.”

Markets and rain hats  

An vital a part of the itinerary for visitors on the palace, is a go to to the village. Rambha is residence to a number of artisanal fishermen. On the freeway by the village, is an historical dry-fish market that’s run solely by girls. Prawns are a mainstay at many of the outlets right here.

At Renuka Bahera’s stall as an illustration, there are over 5 dried prawn varieties, that she sells for ₹200 to ₹400 a kilogram, relying on the scale. How can we not go to their fish markets? Here, one can see gigantic, freshly caught prawns which can be nonetheless alive and wriggling — a uncommon sight, as any common at seafood markets would agree. Ragunath Behera, a intermediary between fishermen and sellers, explains that almost all of what’s caught at Chilika is taken to a fish depot at close by Balugaun city, the most important within the area. “This is then bought by sellers who’ve outlets on the markets right here,” he explains.

Rambha can be residence to bamboo artisans from whom one can purchase baskets and the beautiful talari, hats worn by staff within the fields. These hats, used for cover towards the solar and rain, are big — so big that they don’t match into even the most important suitcase. We purchase one however and lug it across the airport on our journey again, drawing curious glances. But there might be no higher memento from Odisha.

Room tariffs begin from ₹30,000. There are particular fares for summer time and monsoon months starting from ₹19,000 onwards. Rambha might be reached by highway or prepare from Bhubaneshwar. The author was at Odisha on invitation from Rambha Palace

Published – June 06, 2025 10:49 pm IST