Aina Mahal is an 18th-century palace in Bhuj

Bhuj

Bhuj is a city and a municipality in Kachchh district in the state of Gujarat, India.-History:It was established by Rao Hamirji in 1510 and was made the state capital by Rao Khengarji I in 1549. Its foundation stone as state capital laid formally on Vikram Samvat 1604 Maagha 5th...

, Gujarat, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is located next to the Prag Mahal

Prag Mahal

The Prag Mahal is a 19th-century palace located next to the Aina Mahal in Bhuj, Gujarat, India. It was commissioned by Rao Pragmalji II, and construction began in 1865. It was designed by Colonel Henry Saint Wilkins in the Italian Gothic style, and many Italian artisans were involved in its...

. It was built by Rao Lakhpatji in the mid-18th century. The chief architect was Ram Singh Malam.

The palace was totally destroyed in 2001 Gujarat Earthquake

2001 Gujarat earthquake

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake occurred on January 26, 2001, India's 52nd Republic Day, at 08:46 AM local time and lasted for over two minutes. The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat, India...

. However, a portion of the palace which was not so badly damaged has been restored and it houses the museum, displaying the bed room, music room, court room and other old pieces of arts, paintings, arms, palanquin etc.

Further reading

• "All about Gujarat: Palaces". Gujarat State Portal.
• "Aina Mahal". Gujarat Tourism.
• Joe Bindloss & Sarina Singh. India. Lonely Planet
  Lonely Planet
  Lonely Planet is the largest travel guide book and digital media publisher in the world. The company is owned by BBC Worldwide, which bought a 75% share from the founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler in 2007 and the final 25% in February 2011...
  
   (2007), p. 760.
• "Museums". Kutchforever.com
• Michael Kohn. "Two Years After Devastating Quake, Gujarat’s Aina Mahal Still in Ruins". Associated Press
  Associated Press
  The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
  
   (January 29, 2003).
• Gunvanthi Balaram. "Glass Palace". The Hindu
  The Hindu
  The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
  
  (June 19, 2005).
• "The arts, in past tense". The Hindu
  The Hindu
  The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
  
  (April 22, 2001).
• "Lack of funds takes a toll on 2001 tremor-hit Aina Mahal". Express India (February 15, 2008).
• Anjali Desai. India Guide Gujarat. India Guide Publications (2007). ISBN 9780978951702.
• Peter Popham. "Relics of medieval India left cracked but still standing amid the rubble". The Independent
  The Independent
  The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
  
  (January 30, 2001).
• Amin Jaffer. "The Aina Mahal: An Early Example of 'Europeanerie'". In Arts of Kutch (Christopher W. London, ed.). Marg Publications (2000). ISBN 8185026483.
• Pramod J. Jethi and Christopher W. London. "A Glorious Heritage: Maharao Lakhpatji and the Aina Mahal". In Arts of Kutch (Christopher W. London, ed.). Marg Publications (2000). ISBN 8185026483.
• Paul Watson. "Treasures of India's Royal Past Among Quake Losses". Los Angeles Times
  Los Angeles Times
  The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
  
  (February 11, 2001).
• Soutik Biswas. "The Remains of Days Past". Outlook India (February 26, 2001).
• Jane Yang. Let's Go India & Nepal. Macmillan (2003), p. 218. ISBN 031232006X.