When professionals from United Kingdom and different institutions of India were engaged in refurbishing the oldest portion of Udaipur’s iconic City Palace Museum, they may not have realized they were truly making history. The ‘Arms and Armouries’ gallery at Saleh Khana has come alive, reflecting hi-tech conservation processes and traditional swordsmithy of Mewar, Rajasthan. Undoubtedly, it is a ‘first’ for museums in India, explained the curatorial team working since 2017 on this challenging project.

Saleh Khana, for those who have not yet visited the picturesque ‘city of lakes’ in Rajasthan, is the oldest portion of The City Palace in Udaipur. It was built in the 1560’s by Maharana Udai Singh II, in whose name ‘Udaipur’ as a ‘city of peace’ was established along the scenic shores of Lake Pichola surrounded by hills. Saleh Khana is a vast hall with very thick and massive load bearing walls, large arches and corbelled ceiling, quite an engineering marvel of its times. Initially it was used as Maharana Udai Singh’s living quarters till Rai Angan, the central courtyard of the Mardana Mahal was created with the Maharana’s private residential area at Nikka ki Chopad.

Saleh Khana served a waiting room for the Royal visitors, particularly the nobles of Mewar, who came from their ‘Thikanas’ or estates to call on the Maharana. They deposited their arms here before their audience with the Maharana. Outside in the foyer one can still notice a small recess or a ‘Bha-kari’ in local dialect, where the attendants called ‘charnias’ would be waiting to collect footwear of the visitors, clean and keep it ready for the return journey of the guests. Later this hall was also used as a ‘Farrash Khana’, where The City Palace housekeeping items were stored. In 1883, Maharana Sajjan Singh shifted the Palace armoury into this historic hall.

“The architectural style of Saleh Khana is fascinating from every perspective,” said Dr Shikha Jain of DRONAH, architectural conservation consultant and former Principal Coordinator for conservation works of the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF). The architectural form and style reflected the earlier palaces of Maharana Kumbha (period of reign 1433-1468 CE) at Chittorgarh and Kumbhalgarh and the more contemporary ones at Gogunda and Moti Magri. The hall has a rugged, cave-like appearance with heavy stone walls, arcuated ceiling and minimal ornamentation. The exterior has the typical projected opening in the centre. The initial gokhda (projected window) that resembled its precedents in style had been closed in the 17th century........

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