Tale of a town, two lakes and a zoo, Tripura- Part Four, the Water Palace.

It could have been a coincidence, or providence. The most beautiful aspect of Tripura unfolded when we were a week away from the departure.

Neer Mahal or Water palace has to be seen to be believed. It is situated some 60 odd kilometers from Agartala near a place called Melaghar, amidst a man-made lake of Rudrasagar. And Melaghar in turn is well connected with a constant stream of buses. Once at Melaghar, take a cycle rickshaw to the edges of Rudrasagar Lake. One can go to the Neermahal either by motorboats, which compresses 40 odd passengers and turns out to be cheap or else take a simple boat, all be oneself-that turns out to be expensive and slower option but in turn gives you a beautiful vantage of the palace from varying distances and lets you melt in the scenery of it. As if you were one of the erstwhile Maharajas visiting the place.

I chose the second option.

Neermahal was built by Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya in 1930 as a summer resort. I have seen Udaipur lake palace and though Neermahal pales in comparison, I would rate it higher for the serenity in which it is located, far from the maddening crowds. And if you are lucky enough to come here in winters, then, people told me one can see flocks and flocks of migrating birds.

The palace itself lies in a dilapidated state (till 2004 September, when I went there- I heard of some plans of renovating it and turning it into a museum, start a sound and light show and develop facilities of water sports in the lake). There are two parts of the palace - one on the western side which was used by the royal family and another on the eastern side which was used by the servants. It has a well laid garden and what seems like facility for an open air drama theatre. A few years ago flood lights were installed to enhance the beauty of the place. More about it, later.

I arrived at Melaghar, without extensive plans to stay in Neermahal or even any idea about its endearing beauty. Melaghar turned to be dusty little town, which one likes to leave as soon as possible. And I and my wife wondered, if we have made a mistake of expecting too much over here. After all we had seen enchanting Kamalasagar and wonderful Sepahijhala, and therefore our benchmarks were high.

"Neermahal"- I demanded the very first rickshaw puller. Idea being-lets see the place and leave as soon as possible. And were heralded on a 20 minutes ride over the meandering lanes and by lanes of Melaghar, to a place called Rajghat.

And as soon we saw the Neermahal from the edges of Rudrasagar, at a distance of two kilometers- we knew we are in for something special. And how special it was, was something which was revealed only after a while.

The place has only one place to stay, the Tripura State tourist guest house (right at the edges of the lake, overlooking the palace), and due to the fame of the place is always booked. So it should be booked in advance at Agartala. When we arrived there to book a room (of course after changing our mind about rushing the place over), we were politely told that the rooms are already booked. But the very fact that I was someone from mainland India, a non-Bengali made me special, after all the place doesn't tend to see any non-Bengali every other day. After a few frantic calls to Agartala, they gave me a room.

We hired a simple boat for Neermahal. It was being rowed by one wonderful person Pradosh Biswas (yeah coincidently shared the name of my hero, Feluda). The man kept us busy right through the half an hour journey to the palace. He told me anecdotes about the regional politics, about the social peculiarities of the place, about the issues that confront Tripura in broken but lucid Hindi. Meeting him was indeed a serendipity. And then after we had visited the place, he told me a closely guarded secret- if we had to savor the real beauty of the place, then we must row around the place in the night.

And that we did, courtesy Pradosh. It was surreal. The whole atmosphere enchanted you and filled you with an unknown fear at the same time. The flood lit places of the palace and those lacking it, play hide and seek with you- beckoning you and warning you- As if the whole place has liven up and trying to hypnotize you.

We stayed in Melaghar for 2 days made two visits to Neermahal. Its memory lingers on with us even today.

A week after the visit, we left Agartala with a sense of awe and satisfaction.