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Showing posts with the label chail palace

Being Second

Lore has it that Bhupinder Singh, king of Patiala, was enamoured of the daughter of Lord Kitchener, British Commander-in-Chief.  The Maharajah, a handsome ladies’ man, made some overture to the young girl.  The place where the incident occurred is known as Scandal Point (on the majestic Mall Road in Shimla) even today.  Bhupinder Singh was duly banished from Shimla.  He went to Chail, another hill at a distance of about 50 A view of the Chail Palace km from Shimla, and built up his new capital, having conquered the Gurkhas there.  But when he decided to construct his palace on the highest hill with the royal penchant for looking down on Shimla, his former Summer capital, he was faced with another problem.  An ascetic who was living on the prime location of the hill refused to budge and asked the king to build his palace elsewhere.  The king felt rage mounting in him by being pushed to the second place twice in succession: first by the British, now by a native baba.  Babas were