1. Rambagh Palace, Jaipur (Rajasthan)

Rambagh Palace is an iconic palace that is also popularly referred as the “Jewel of Jaipur”. This palace was built in 1835 in Rajasthan. It used to be the home of Kesar Badaran, the favorite handmaiden of Maharani Gayatri Devi. It later became the royal guest house as well as the hunting lodge, and eventually transformed into the residence of the Maharaja.

It was initially built moderately but was later refurbished to make it suitable for the royals. The palace was named as Rambagh Palace after the then reigning Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II. It was his grandson prince Sawai Man Singh II who took inspiration from the Mughal and Rajasthani architecture to convert the palace to a magnificent palace. This marvelous palace became Maharaja of Jaipur’s permanent residence in 1925. After Indian independence, the Maharaja became the governor or the Raj Pramukh and the concerned palace was converted to the Government House or Raj Bhavan.

The royal family lived in the Rambagh Palace till 1957, when the palace was transformed into a luxury heritage hotel. It was initially managed by the royals themselves. However, The Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts and Palaces started managing this marvelous palace hotel from 1972.