Durbar Hall - Gajapati Palace

The Gajapati Dynasty are the pride of Orissa and the cynosure of all discussions relating to the development, modernization, growth and expansion of Gajapati District .Whenever any visitor comes to Paralakhemundi he or she makes it a point to visit the Gajapati Palace where the Palace Durbar is a major attraction .
While the government has failed to take any care of this illustrious palace , the Palace Durbar continues to be the hub of any major palace related activities or important meeting whenever the Maharaja Gopinath Gajapati is present in the Palace . The Durbar Hall is in the middle of the huge palace with its height up to two upstairs .It is divided into two parts namely the Raja Mahal and the Rani Mahal .Main functions , celebrations ,public functions ,council meetings were organized inside the Durbar Hall with the Maharaja seated on the splendid throne placed on an elevated mandap . Its gilt decorated walls and intricate wooden trellis work are further embellished with other traditional work of art . In the back ground adorning the walls are the portraits of the rulers of this dynasty , and almost all the portraits are hand painted by the eminent artists of that period . Also adorning the walls of the hall are the stuffed head of the animals that were hunted down by the Maharajas during the annual hunting rituals . The staring glared eyes of the bison , bear ,antler ,elephant ,tigers etc all recall back to memory the golden days of the dynasty , when the writ of the Maharaja ran all over his kingdom . They also remind one of the leisure and pursuit of the rulers .

The stuffed animal head look so real that anybody sitting alone in the mighty durbal hall will have goose pimples simply by looking at them . The ceilings and the roof made of wood designed tastefully are in very band conditions due to lack of care . The palace escort will point out a finger to the veiled rooftop to inform a visitor that the palace queen and the ladies were also made accessible to the durbar proceedings provided that they did so from the roof camouflaged by see through openings , which will hide the ladies from the ground floor . A huge bust portrait of the Late Mahraja Krushna Chandra Gajapati adorns the 'singhasana' (throne) as a respect for this great soul .The guns and the swords so dominant in the other palace are mysteriously missing . Unfortunately all this history is decaying and gathering dust with none to take proper care for them . "It will require huge financial investment to take care of the durbar hall and its belongings which the present Maharaja is not capable of and unless the government wakes up fast the palace history will be in ruins" says Purna Chandra Mohapatra the Secretary of a leading cultural organization Siddhanta , which is coincidently getting ready the History of Paralakhemundi .