Suraj Bhawan is one of the pavilions of 18th century Deeg Palace or Deeg Bhawans, which is popularly known as Water palaces or Jal Mahal. Suraj Bhawan has been named after Suraj Mal of Jat Dynasty, who was the ruler of Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. He built the Bhawans of the Deeg palace. Suraj Bhawan is one of the most attractive buildings, which has been made of marble and the architectural treatment of this pavilion bears some similarities with the Mughal architectural pattern. The construction of Suraj Bhawan was started by Suraj Mal, but after his death it was completed by his son Jawahar Singh. This building is made of marble from Makrana, Rajasthan.
Structure of Suraj Bhawan
The building of Suraj Bhawan consists of a single storey and is devised as a square of 26.80 meters with a leveled roof. The marble slabs that have been used here belong to more than one royal building of the Mughals, because the slabs employed in the walls do not always match in size and texture. Generally, this building is supposed to have the marble slabs of the royal school for the princesses in the Red Fort, Delhi, which probably was one of the many victims of Jawahar`s fury. In addition to this, the Jats have also used some fresh marble slabs which did not belong to any previous edifice. It is possibly due to the death of Jawahar Singh, for which the encasement of the structure remained unfinished. The idea to cover it with white marble most probably was an after-thought for, certain pavements, its pedestal, major segment of the western face and a huge number of roof space and brackets are still in sandstone. In order to give them the resemblance of marble, with the exception of the pedestal, they have been covered with a superior mixture of lime plaster.
Architecture of Suraj Bhawan
Each face of Suraj Bhawan has a verandah with five openings and rooms nearby at the corner which have dome like ceiling ornamented with a single lotus similar to many Mughal buildings. The floor of every verandah is studded with a central tank containing jets to serve as an entity of beauty for the structure as well as for its dwellers. The main room of the building is lighted through windows and recesses of the corridors and this mitigates the monotony of the walls to a large extent. The curved ceilings of the corridors which are supported by semi-circular arches are an interesting feature of the Suraj Bhawan.
The interior arrangements of the Suraj Bhawan are more like an exhibition area than a place of residence. This provision was mainly designed for the ladies to use it as a place for respite and leisure. The sandstone structure with a verandah and side-compartments on the east of this mansion has perhaps been put up to safeguard its architectural effect. The grace of the Suraj Bhawan is enhanced by tanks and gardens on either side, assisted by the features of Deeg architecture.
Other Bhawans of Deeg Palace
Apart from Suraj Bhawan, Deeg Palace includes some other Bhawans in it and they are Gopal Bhawan, Hardev Bhawan, Kishan Bhawan, Kesava Bhavan, Nand Bhawan, Singh Pol etc.
