This sight is located in Jaipur, India. For travel information about Jaipur, read the Jaipur Travel Guide. To prepare for a trip to India, read also the India Travel Guide. Looking for budget accommodation there? Use AsiaExplorers Budget Accommodation Guide, the no-frills website to cover your budget accommodation needs.
The Moti Doongri is a hilltop palace formerly an old fort called Shankargarh. The Rajput Maharajah Sawai Man Singh II converted Shankargarh into a palace, and renamed it Moti Doongri. Sawai Man Singh II added turrets so that it looks like a Scottish castle. After the maharaja married the beautiful Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar in 1940, the palace became a venue for many glittering social events.
After Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II passed away in 1970, the maharani continued to stay in the palace. By then, she has reinvented herself as a Member of Parliament, and continued to stay there to be close to her constituency.
I passed by the Moti Doongri while visiting the Birla Mandhir, also called the Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which is located at the foot of the hill. From the foothill, only the ramparts and tall spire of an ancient Shiva temple is visible.
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