"ARABIAN NIGHTS" PALACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12955, 26 August 1905, Page 2 (Supplement)

"ARABIAN NIGHTS" PALACE.

MAHARAJAH'S HOME OF BLUE AND WHITE MARBLE. v A £5000 KITCHEN. There is now rising in the North- ■.' Punjab a royal palace which for beauty and splendour will eclipse any similar building ;, ' in India, the country already so rich in monumental treasures. \; It is the new winter palace of his Highness the Maharajah of Kapurthala, and its total cost., it is anticipated, will not be far short of £200,000. , ; "It will be a dream in blue and white ; marble," was the terse but picturesque de- ' scription given of the building recently by a gentleman intimately connected with its construction, " and tho designers," he added, " might well have based their plans . upon the gorgeous palaces which appear ,■ only in the pages of the 'Arabian Nights.'" Despite the famous speech of Lord Curzon in which he deplored,the fact that Tottenham Court Road art'was ousting native art in the palaces of Indian rulers, the new ; building will almost throughout be decorated in European 6tyle. ; All round this vast palace of delight will -i run a spacious verandah with marble floors, supported by blue Canadian marble columns,. and the entrance hall will bo paved with blue and white marble, the colours',. | of the Maharajah, There will be fourteen , state rooms, many of them overlooking a beautiful courtyard and gardens, where fountains will play among. the foliage.

The durbar hall alone of all the chambers will be decorated in Indian style. Adjoining it will be the state salon, in the style of Louis XIV., and the English dining-room of Charles 11. period. The many other rooms in the palace will exemplify the best representative periods of English and French art. The erection and decoration is being carried out by Messrs. Waring and Gillow, Limited, and will occupy about twc. years more.

So far as sanitary arrangements, ventilation, and lighting are concerned it will be equal to any building in the world. All fittings, furniture, carpets, wall papers, curtains, panels, tiles, marble, etc., everything of the finest procurable, will be taken from England, and the kitchens, the fitting of which will cost £5000, will, it is stated, be second to none in the world.