Diggi Palace – Sleek Blend of Royal & Contemporary in the Heart of Jaipur

Now famously known for hosting the world’s biggest literature festival – Jaipur Literature festival aka JLF, Hotel Diggi Palace is a resplendent palace turned into hotel in the heart of pink city. Built by Shri Thakur Saheb Pratap Singh Ji Diggi of the then ruling family of Diggi principality in 1860, this 19th century palace blends the best of royal Indian hospitality with European ‘art de vivre’.

Situated on 18 acres of land, Diggi Palace is one of Rajasthan’s most loved luxury accommodation options, which has also played host to a lot of lavish & royal weddings in town. Going back a little in history, when Sawai Jai Singh Ji built the city of Jaipur, the town was built in 9 squares. Diggi Palace earlier occupied the space where now resides the Albert Hall Museum, but was later shifted to its present location. The palace was partly converted into a heritage hotel in 1991 by the present owners Thakur Ram Pratap Singh Diggi and his wife, Jyotika Kumari Diggi, who still live in the palace and also run the hotel.

The palace is basically a garden estate that opens up through a courtyard that’s surrounded by an array of ‘durbars’ (banquet halls), fresco painted ‘deodis’ (doorways), ‘havelis’ (palace wings) and lush green gardens on all sides. Following the philosophy of ‘Life is a fete’ , Diggi Palace is always coming up with something innovative, regal and fun to keep you hooked to its magnetic charm 🙂 From the largest literature festival and fashion extravaganzas to grand weddings & culinary journeys, Diggi Palace has a thousand ways to regale you.

The gate right in front of the courtyard opens to the Durbar Hall that is painted in shades of Wedgwood & Jodhpur blues along with pista-green colored walls. The archways and stained glass windows lead to a hall which houses the paintings of the royals of Jaipur. While walking around the palace, the only sounds you can hear are the people whispering to each other and birds unabashedly chit chatting in their shrill voices perhaps because it’s a post-nap chat session for them 😉

Through the shaded walkways when you enter the garden area, you could see a peacock ambling just like you, except that it looks like it belongs to the Palace with its own shade of blues and greens blending in the plush architecture.

The palace comes alive in the evening with the Front Lawn dimly lit and the peacock which was strolling in the garden some time back, is now perched high on the tree, only his silhouette to be seen in the sunset skies.

The soft breeze in the expansive lawn draws you towards it and smoothly merges in the aroma of Rajasthani spices being cooked in the kitchens of Baradari Mahal – A Gourmet Restaurant at Diggi Palace.