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    15 Palaces In India That Look Too Magical To Be Real

    They don't call it "Incredible India" for nothing.

    Meghan Koushik
    by Meghan Koushik

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    1. Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur

    Via Flickr: veeds

    Completed in 1943, Umaid Bhawan was commissioned by Maharaja Umaid Singh of Jodhpur in 1929 during one of the longest droughts in the state, as a way of generating employment in his kingdom. Today, the royal family still inhabits a majority of the palace grounds, but part of the palace has been turned into a luxury hotel so you too can experience the royal life, starting at just $450 a night.

    cropped and saturated from original / Via Flickr: thessilian

    2. Jal Mahal, Jaipur

    saturated from original / Via Flickr: saturnism

    Jal Mahal was originally built in 1734 as a hunting lodge and today is only accessible by boat. The palace actually extends four stories below the lake surface, and stays dry thanks to a specially-concieved stone facade and lime mortar to prevent seepage.

    3. Amba Vilas Palace, Mysore

    Via Flickr: vathis

    Mysore's lovely palace is home to the annual Mysore Dasara festival, where you can watch extravagantly decked-out elephants meander around the palace grounds.

    Via Flickr: scalino

    ...plus, it looks even better at night.

    4. Hawa Mahal, Jaipur

    Via Flickr: ashumittal

    The "Palace of the Winds" was built by the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1799 as a really high, really pretty screened wall so that the women of the royal family could watch goings-on in the city unnoticed. All the nooks and crannies of the palace make it a great place for an epic game of hide-and-seek.

    5. Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh

    Via Flickr: sandeepachetan

    Built by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1569, Fatehpur Sikri was once the seat of the Mughal empire, until a water shortage forced the Mughals to move their capital back to Lahore. Today, it's one of the best-preserved examples of the Indo-Islamic architectural style popularized by the Mughal dynasty.

    meghan koushik

    6. City Palace, Jaipur

    saturated and cropped from original / Via commons.wikimedia.org

    This is the current residence of the Royal Family of Jaipur, and also home to a fantastic museum featuring the royal garments of Maharaja Madho Singh II, who weighed a kingly 550 pounds.

    Via Flickr: mederic

    7. Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad

    Via Flickr: eustaquio

    Chowmahalla is the former home of the Nizams of Hyderabad, the wealthiest royal lineage in India. The last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, was wealthy enough to own 50 Rolls-Royces and a diamond paperweight worth 50 million pounds. He also employed 38 people for the sole purpose of dusting the chandeliers of the royal palace, so you can imagine how *fancy* this place is on the inside.

    8. Lake Palace, Udaipur

    saturated from original / Via Flickr: aparajith

    A palace on water is infinitely cooler than a palace on land. James Bond thinks so, too.

    9. Lakshmi Vilas Palace, Baroda

    Emmanuel Dyan / Via Flickr: emmanueldyan

    Built in 1890 and home to the Gaekwad royal family of Baroda, this palace is four times the size of Buckingham Palace in the UK. Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III seemed like a fun dad — he built a miniature railway around the palace grounds to take his kids between their school and the main palace.

    10. City Palace, Udaipur

    meghan koushik

    The largest palace complex in Rajasthan features an elevated central garden complex with its own swimming pool.

    11. Bangalore Palace, Bangalore

    Picasa / Via Flickr: raghu7jana

    This Tudor-esque palace is currently owned by the royal family of Mysore.

    12. Amer Palace, Jaipur

    cropped and saturated from original / Via commons.wikimedia.org

    Perched high on a hill, this stunning palace was built in 1592 by the Kacchwaha dynasty. It's possible to walk — or drive — your way up from the bottom, but you can also make the trip by elephant and pretend to be Indian royalty for twenty minutes.

    meghan koushik

    13. Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad

    "Falaknuma Palace 05" by Bernard Gagnon - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons / Via commons.wikimedia.org

    Also formerly home to the Nizams of Hyderabad, this lovely hilltop palace is now a luxury hotel with secret gardens and personal butlers for hotel guests. If you've got the $$$ to spare, the Nizam's private bedchamber is now the hotel's Grand Presidential Suite-- complete with private swimming pool.

    Via Flickr: skender

    14. Meherangarh Fort, Jodhpur

    Via Flickr: xile

    Jodhpur's best-preserved royal fort is built on a cliff four hundred feet above the city, so in addition to gorgeous gardens and intricately carved gates, you also get insanely beautiful views of blue-tinted Jodhpur below.

    Via Flickr: xile

    15. Red Fort, Delhi

    Via Flickr: rameshsa

    The Red Fort was built in 1648 by Shah Jahan (also known for a little thing called the Taj Mahal) as the seat of the Mughal Empire for the last 200 years of its existence. The name is a bit of a misnomer--most of the fort's interior was actually white when it was first built, except for the red sandstone walls surrounding the perimeter. The buildings were painted red under British occupation.

    Via Flickr: xile

    16. Kowdiar Palace, Trivandrum

    Via upload.wikimedia.org

    This beautiful hilltop palace was originally built in 1934 as a wedding gift for a princess in the Travancore royal family. It's still home to the Travancore royals, so public access is restricted.

    Via ohsotheysayings.tumblr.com

    ...but us lowly commoners can still dream!