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DEEG (also spelt Dig), 30 km northwest of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, is a grim little market town midway between Agra and the Aravallis which, as the second capital of the local ruling Rajputs, was the scene of bloody encounters with the Moghul overlords in the mid-1700s. The reason you might want to come here is to see the town's much-photographed palace en route between the Bharatpur bird sanctuary and Sariska tiger reserve near Alwar, 50 km west. Fusing Moghul and Hindu elements, it's an undeniably beautiful building.
Construction of the royal retreat began in 1730, when the Jat ruler Badan Singh established Deeg as the second capital of Bharatpur state. There's a commanding view from the high fortified walls of his citadel, and you can still see some of the original cannons. The delicate design of the palaces or bhawans (daily 8 am - noon & 1-7 pm), with arches, pillars and domes reflected in surrounding water tanks, and the leafy gardens interspersed with two thousand fountains, is typical of the Jats. The largest, Gopal Bhawan, near the entrance to the complex, was Surajmal's summer residence. Its spacious, plush furnished hall is gracefully proportioned, with majestic archways, sculpted pillars and intricate balconies overlooking the tank, or Gopal Sagar.
In the east of the complex, overlooking Rup Sagar, Kesav Bhawan is an open-sided square pavilion, designed to re-create the freshness of the monsoon. In Surajmal's time, fountains played within it, producing a shimmering rainbow in the sunshine, while cooling water showered from the roof to the accompaniment of artificial rolls of thunder. The reservoir for the fountains took a week to fill and only a matter of hours to empty, and nowadays they are only switched on during local festivals. BACK