Sanskrit University Building at Darbhanga donated by the Maharajadhiraj

Anandbagh as illustrated in The Graphic Dec 1888 issue

Anand Bagh Palace (also known as Lakshmivilas Palace) is a palace situated in town of

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth largest city and municipal corporation in the state of Bihar in India, and is considered an important city in North Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. Darbhanga ...

in the Indian state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. Anand Bagh Palace was constructed during the reign of Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh in the 1880s and was severely damaged during the

1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

. It was rebuilt thereafter. Anand Bagh Palace was donated to the Government of Bihar by Maharaja Kameshwar Singh for starting a university for promotion of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

language. Currently, this palace is the head office of

Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (KSDSU) is a state university located at Darbhanga, Bihar, India, dedicated to the teaching and promotion of Sanskrit. History KSDSU was established in 1961, with the scholar Umesh Mishra as its ...

. Anand Bagh Palace was well known for its beautiful gardens surrounding it that have now disappeared.

Roper Lethbridge Sir Roper Lethbridge (23 December 1840 – 15 February 1919) was a British academic and civil servant in India and a Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892. Early life and education Lethbridge was the ...

mentions about the Lakshmivilas Palace: "The new Palace at Darbhanga, with its immense stables, its botanical and zoological gardens, and its many beautiful surroundings, is well known in England by the sketches that have appeared in the London illustrated papers."Golden Book of India - Author - Roper Lethbridge. The garden surrounding the palace had several rare species of plants such as Branched palm having over 8 branches,

Rudraksha A ''rudraksha'' (IAST: ') refers to the dried Pyrena, stones or seeds of the genus ''Elaeocarpus'' specifically, ''Elaeocarpus ganitrus''. These stones serve as prayer beads for Hinduism, Hindus (especially Shaivism, Shaivas) and Buddhism, Bu ...

Sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sanda ...

Mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

, and others. Many species of orchids were also planted around the palace. The garden was laid out on the extensive grounds of the palace by

Charles Maries Charles Maries (18 December 1851 – 11 October 1902) was an English botanist and plant collector who was sent by James Veitch & Sons of Chelsea, London to search for new hardy plants in Japan, China and Taiwan between 1877 and 1879; there he dis ...

, who was recommended by Sir Joseph Hooker to Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh for the post of Superintendent of the gardens of the

Raj Darbhanga The Darbhanga Raj, also known as Raj Darbhanga and the Khandwala dynasty, was a chieftaincy located within the Mughal province of Bihar which controlled territories, not all contiguous, that were part of the Mithila region, now divided betwee ...

References

Palaces in Bihar Darbhanga Rebuilt buildings and structures in India Tourist attractions in Darbhanga district {{India-palace-stub