Deeg (Rajasthan), Sep 9 (Inditop.com) The jewel of a palace whose walls reflected sunlight off the waters all around it and brought this little town to the international tourist map has lost much of its sheen because there is no water this year.
The pond in the middle of which erstwhile kings of Bharatpur had built their summer retreat has dried up because of scanty rainfall and lack of water from the Agra Canal.
They built their Jal Mahal (Water Palace) so that the two bottom floors were always below the level of the water in the pond, so that they stayed cool in summer. When the pond was full, the unique building looked single-storeyed from the front, two storeyed from the sides and five storeyed from the rear.
Now all that is in the past and the entire palace is uncovered for all to see.
Most of the tourists to the world-famous Bharatpur bird sanctuary go via Deeg on their way back to Delhi or Agra, attracted by the Jal Mahal and the double-storeyed Gopal Bhavan that sits within the pond called Gopal Sagar.
Gopal Bhavan is flanked by the famous Sawan pavilion in the north and Bhadon pavilion in the south, named after two monsoon months by the Indian calendar. The two ornate pavilions provide a fascinating view of the palace which takes a golden hue from the reflecting waters at sunset.
All that is missing this year. Instead, the tourist is confronted by the stink of stagnant water at the bottom of the pond.
“The crowds that came for the annual mela (fair) in Sawan Bhadon were sorely disappointed as there was hardly any water in the Jal Mahal talab (pond),” said retired teacher Bhagwan Das, who lives close to the palace complex.
“The Sawan Bhadon pavilions and the greenery all around have suffered the most as a result of the poor monsoon this year.”
The Agra Canal, regulated by the irrigation department of neighbouring state Uttar Pradesh, is dry and there is nothing they can do, officials say.
The canal, which starts from the Yamuna at Okhla in south Delhi, has had very little water this year. It is even failing to feed the Keitham reservoir, which supplies water to Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal.
“Rains have been very poor this year so far and the monsoon is about to withdraw,” said Kishan Lal, a shopkeeper outside the palace. “We are faced with an acute water shortage. The level in the pond is going down each day, and unless the government comes forward to release some water, the palaces of the maharajas will be sitting in the middle of a desert.”
Deeg was once a beautiful garden town. The then royal family of Bharatpur carefully laid out sprawling gardens, sparkling fountains and magnificent palaces. The palace pavilions, set within large, formal Mughal gardens, which stand out for their beauty and symmetry, have often been compared to the Taj Mahal complex.
Located 176 km south of the Indian capital, Deeg is an ancient town, finding mention in Skanda Purana as Dirgha or Dirghapura.
Eighteenth century builders of the palace complex used innovative technology to supply water to the intricate system of fountains around the palace.
“The architects used pipes that were specially cast of fine clay and locally burnt and laid as a jigsaw puzzle, through the thick walls of the building supporting the reservoir,” explained local resident Hari Om. “The palace has a hollow ceiling with rolling iron spheres in it; when water is made to flow into the ceiling, these spheres collide with each other and produce a sound akin to thunder and lightning during the monsoon months.”
The pipes are still functional but silent due to lack of water.
