The Lalitha Mahal
The Lalitha Mahal, now renamed Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, is a luxury hotel-turned royal resident and the second largest palace in the southern Indian city of Mysore, Karnataka, after the Mysore Palace. It is located near the Chamundi Hills, east of the city. The palace was built in 1921 by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV for the exclusive stay of the Governor-General of India.
Built on a raised ground, the palace was fashioned on the lines of St Paul’s Cathedral in London and is one of the imposing structures in Mysore.
The palace is painted pure white. It was converted into a heritage hotel in 1974.[6] It was run as a part of the Ashok Group of the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) under the Government of India until 2018 when it was transferred to a unit of the Government of Karnataka.[7] However, a veneer of the original royal ambience of the palace is maintained.
History
The Lalitha Mahal palace dates to the early 20th century, built during the Kingdom of Mysore and British India. The palace was constructed with a reasonable amount of money out of the kingdom’s annual income of two million pounds at that time.[1][2] The palace was built in 1921 initially for the exclusive stay of the Governor-General of India and subsequently used as a guest house for European guests of the Maharaja.