Samode Palace

Samode Palace
Samode Palace Lounge
Location within Rajasthan
General information
Architectural style	Rajput and Mughal Architecture
Town or city	Samode and Jaipur
Country	India
Coordinates	27°12′18″N 75°48′20″E / 27.205°N 75.8055°E / 27.205; 75.8055
Completed	16th century
Client	Rawals
Technical details
Structural system	Marble and masonry
Design and construction
Architect	Rawal Berisal

Samode Palace, Samode Haveli and Samode Bagh (Garden) are heritage monuments and structures built by the noble feudatory with the hereditary title of 'Maha Rawal' or 'Maha Saheb’ of the Amber and Jaipur principality in Rajasthan, India. All three have rich history of several hundred years and display a fusion of Mughal and Rajasthani art and architecture. They are now part of the Heritage group of hotels under the flagship name of “Samode” that are run by the hereditary owners of these structures. The Samode Palace is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Jaipur city, the Samode Haveli is close to Jaipur (centrally located within city limits, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from the city railway station) and the Samode Bagh or Garden, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the palace which is also run as a luxury hotel.

Many Hindi feature films have been pictured with the settings of the palace. The 1984 American HBO TV serial adaptation of the Raj-romance novel The Far Pavilions was also filmed in the palace precincts and starred Ben Cross, Amy Irving, Omar Sharif and Christopher Lee.

Samode is a large town in Rajasthan, which belonged to the landlords known as ‘zamindars’ (in Hindi language) of the principal thakurs of the state of Amber. It shot into prominence due to the thakurs lineage traced to Maharaja Rajveer Singhji, the 17th prince of the house of Kacchwaha Rajputs. Samode was bequeathed to Gopal Singhji one of his 12 sons, as a noble feudatory of the Amber and Jaipur principality. Samode was, even then, considered a very rich town under the kingdom of Amber. Behari Das, a Rajput warrior who was then in Mughal service of the Nathawat clan inherited the Zamindari of Somede. It was under the British Raj but was restored to the Nathawat clan with the hereditary title 'Rawal Saheb' or 'Maha Rawal' (title conferred for their valiance and loyalty to the royal family), in 1757, and this lineage is continued to this date.