This ancient palace fort in Pune, India was the power seat of the Peshawas. Its architecture and design exudes the Moghul influence and the Peshawas desire for power as well as their extravagant spending and their insistence on total security. Built in 1736, it was the well protected luxurious residence of peshawas and until it succumbed to a seven days raged fire, its grandeur was all but visible and fresh, from its twenty one feet high parapet wall covered with famous paintings to its luxurious, cozy interior aglow with dazzling chandelier throwing a luster across the lofty wooden archways onto the rich polished teak furniture, its glossy marble floors and the expensive Persian rugs.
Beautiful paintings depicting stories of Mahabarata were drawn on the interiors and there were intricate teak carvings with tear drop teak pillars built as a cypress tree to uphold the ceiling. On the garden a lotus petal shaped fountain can be seen and was the most intricate and complicated one belonging to that era and was built for the amusement of the offspring of the Peshawas.
Even though what remains after a raging fire destroyed its finery, is simply a skeleton of what once was, there are still impressive contours of the palace visible to the thousands of tourists who are attracted by this ancient palace. Among these, the tall main door still appears sturdy with a twenty-feet hight while another portrayal of the power seat with metal spikes still exudes royalty and strength.
While visiting this once luxurious palace that epitomizes fine living and takes you back in time to a grand era, one would inevitably look up for luxury hotels Pune in order to surrender to some indoor comforts after a day of sightseeing. The Ista Pune seems like a perfect Pune hotel with its premier location close to the air port and the city and yet managing to be enveloped in calm serenity with attentive services and modern conveniences to ensure a perfect indoor stay.