Heritage Gwalior - 15th Century - Man Mandir

Raja Man Singh built 3 beautiful monuments on Fort that are testimonies to his love for architecture. One of these is a remarkable palace called “Man Mandir”, which can be considered the crown jewel of Gwalior’s architectural wealth. The palace sits at the eastern wall of the fort and is the main building next to the northern Gate called Hathi Pol, as it was the way for elephants. The Palace is built in Rajasthani or Rajput architecture but with some very surprising elements like frescos in unusual colors like turquoise, green and yellow, of geese and crocodiles with entwined tails. The parapet wall of the palace depicts elephants, peacocks and trees. This large palace was primarily used as Man Singh’s residence and has multiple courts, rooms, auditoriums etc. The elaborate description of the palace in Babur’s autobiography Baburnama describes it to have six large main domes on the north wall that were gold plated and interior walls of rooms and salons to be studded with precious and semi-precious stones. These were later looted by the Lodis who captured the Fort after Man Singh. One can still see the hollow depressions where the stones might have been studded.

Two inner courts inside the palace are enclosed by a series of apartments all around, which have perforated screens or “jalis”. The “Jali” or “Jhilmili” as they are fondly called are astonishing example of craftsmanship on stone and get even more refined and complex in design in later decades as seen on the tomb of Mohammad Ghaus. Jalis became integral part of moghul architecture of later years and can be seen in monuments in Agra and Delhi. The inner courts of Man Mandir have an ornately carved facade. They are decorated with carved brackets in the form of lotus petals, friezes on the walls of colourful tiles and with projecting upper balconies. The southern façade, however, depicts figures of elephants, tigers and ducks. The feature which makes it truly unique is that it has 6 floors out of which three are above the ground and 3 below, out of which the lowest one is now closed. There is not much natural light in the underground floors but one can feel the circulation of air as the north wall of even the underground floors has windows opening to fresh air, as the palace sits on the edge of hill top.

One can only imagine how the Man Mandir would have looked in past when its 6 golden domes atop the hillock would have caught morning rays. No wonder there are beautiful accounts of the palace and Fort in various documentation of Moghul court.