Umaid Bhawan Palace and Museum, Jodhpur, Rajasthan India

Such was the clout of Maharaja Umaid Singh of Marwar that the President of the British Royal Institute of Architects himself designed a palace for him. Around 3000 workers toiled for over 15 years to translate the design of this imposing edifice into reality. It was actually Maharaja's magnanimous effort to employ his people who were hard hit by a drought at that time. The specialty of the building is that for its construction hand chiseled stones are interlocked and there is no mortar binding. It is also known as Chittar Palace because of the use of local Chittar sandstone. Presently a portion of it is used by the descendents of the Maharaja while the rest of it is converted into a luxury heritage hotel and a museum that houses interesting photographs, model aeroplanes, weapons, antique clocks and watches and crockery etc and is open for visitors.