Originally constructed within the early 1800s to host company and visiting members of the family of the erstwhile royal household of Mayurbhanj, this historic residence has been welcoming guests as a boutique property since 2019, a imaginative and prescient dropped at life by next-generation royals and sisters Akshita Bhanj Deo and Mrinalika Bhanj Deo of the forty eighth era of the Bhanj dynasty.
The sisters greet us warmly with a excessive tea that’s prepared and ready below a cover of mango timber on the palace gardens. It all does really feel very Bridgerton-esque after all; besides that we’re clutching onto marigold garlands and woven shawls we had been welcomed with as a substitute of parasols.
“The unique perform of the Belgadia palace has at all times been to host…be it in the way in which of arts, tradition, and even having folks are available in to have a good time completely different occasions and festivals. Opening the doorways of the palace as soon as once more to welcome guests in 2019 felt like we had been coming full circle,” says Mrinalika. Post-independence, the royal household made the Belgadia palace their main residence, having given up their sprawling palace to arrange the MPC Junior College in Mayurbhanj.
Mrinalika Bhanj Deo | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In throwing open the doorways of the palace to company because it at all times was at all times meant, Akshita and Mrinalika who’ve grown up with and immersed themselves within the historical past, artwork, and tradition of their State, and the district of Mayurbhanj, are bringing these experiences to their company. And for his or her company, a keep on the Belgadia palace encompasses all of this together with the added pleasure and intrigue of staying alongside the erstwhile royal household who additionally stay on the property.
On our first night there, we absorb a chhau efficiency within the gardens, lit up with fairy lights, towards the backdrop of the palace. As a part of a three-day competition celebrating this martial, tribal and folks dance type organised by the Belgadia palace and Aadi Naad, we additionally be taught concerning the palace and the household’s efforts in reviving this dance type. Mrinalika says they’ve been working intently with Project Chhauni, a neighborhood organisation selling the Mayurbhanj chhau.
Staff members on the boutique property | Photo Credit: S Poorvaja
In the calm and stillness of dawn is when Belgadia actually feels alive. On a stroll across the palace grounds the following morning, I spot neatly labelled timber, no less than 15 completely different hen calls in response to one other visitor’s birding app, and palace employees members wearing purple and white saris getting flowers prepared. The lush palace grounds appear good not only for internet hosting dance performances and a slew of cultural actions the palace patronises, but additionally for picnics, lazy lengthy lunches at tables that may be arrange open air, and even a sport or two of croquet.
At the Baripada haat | Photo Credit: S Poorvaja
At the Baripada haat, a bustling bi-weekly market shut by, there are greens, fruits, kitchen utilities, handwoven baskets, bamboo traps for fish, mussels and extra. Mrinalika leads us by way of winding rows of sellers and we uncover girls promoting the well-known GI-tagged purple ant chutney. Many of the visitor experiences that The Belgadia Palace facilitates are tied to the tribal communities within the district. Among the numerous initiatives of the Mayurbhanj Foundation, arrange by the household to work with the tribal communities are clusters in several villages weaving handicrafts product of sabai grass. At Salasahi, a village we go to, girls are exhausting at work, deftly weaving stacks of sabai grass into ropes and baskets.
At a sabai grass cluster in Mayurbhanj | Photo Credit: S Poorvaja
During the pandemic, when orders to those clusters working with sabai grass and creating dokra jewelry (made utilizing a wax-casting approach) started to get cancelled, efforts to present these artisans a channel to promote their merchandise led to Mrinalika establishing Hasa Atelier, a boutique on the Belgadia Palace. “Guests and guests to the palace can flick through the merchandise we have now. This was born out of desirous to have a powerful identification and presence for Odisha craftsmanship,” she says.
What’s on our plates?
After consuming the meals in Belgadia for 2 days, we’re solely too keen to join a cooking class with their resident chef. The meals at Belgadia are a very good fusion of Bengali and Odia delicacies. The thalis we pattern at lunch and dinner include lembu bhatal (lemon rice), contemporary chingdi checha (shrimp curry), moong mohan dal (lentils), and badi chura (crushed lentil dumplings). Our favorite is the bansha pora murgi, succulent chunks of hen cooked inside bamboo that’s served heat straight from the bamboo onto our plates. While our breakfast menus have toast, eggs, and juice, we gravitate in direction of heat, crispy chakulis, the Odia model of dosas served alongside ghugni or chickpeas in a mildly spiced gravy. With West Bengal and Odisha at all times having been aggressive with regard to their sweets, we cement our loyalties with Odisha’s crumbly, candy chennapooda.
When it involves all of the out of doors actions one can partake in at Mayurbhanj, the cherry on the cake is a go to to the Simlipal elephant and tiger reserve. The employees at Belgadia extremely suggest a go to there, and even present us movies and images of uncommon sightings of a melanistic tiger.
There is nonetheless, a lot to do should you select to laze round indoors, both in your palace suite or historic suite. Every nook and cranny of the palace is fascinating, and makes for infinite Instagram alternatives. Described as an Art Deco sanctuary, each room contained in the palace lends itself to a wealthy color scheme. I make a psychological be aware of the a number of sequestered spots, good for a day chilly espresso and a fast nap on the numerous wingback chairs and pouffes. True to its intent to host, there are eating areas, a projector room, and even a library stacked with books which are over a 100 years previous.
A set at The Belgadia Palace | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“The palace was by no means in a dilapidated situation, and it has at all times been a lived-in area. My grandparents moved in right here within the late Nineteen Nineties and since then, it has at all times been buzzing with folks,” Mrinalika says. When they started engaged on a renovation in 2019, she says that they had to usher in somebody who knew the way to work with previous properties and buildings. “It isn’t as simple as merely putting in new wiring or drilling into partitions. Every technical resolution needed to be properly thought out, and we needed to protect the heritage and legacy of the palace,” she says. Structurally, there was little that was modified within the palace and so they consciously labored on solely the interiors and the renovations. While the primary palace constructing homes six suites, the historic suites within the backyard constructing have fascinating echoes of the previous; the room that I keep in has elevated platforms and curved archways and I’m later informed that the palace kitchens was once right here.
A view of The Belgadia Palace | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
While the 12 rooms unfold throughout the primary palace and the backyard buildings are open for company around the yr, the palace additionally welcomes company who are available in for day experiences and excursions and extra importantly, faculty college students and children from the area who need to tour the palace.
“We deal with the palace like a residing museum, and a staff member escorts guests by way of the property. There is far that’s fascinating concerning the historical past, artwork, and tradition of this area and we need to encourage each our guests from the area and company to partake in our celebration of Mayurbhanj and its legacy,” Mrinalika says.
The author was at The Belgadia Palace, Mayurbhanj, on invitation from RARE India
Published – June 06, 2025 02:52 pm IST
