The other place of interest in Jodphur is the Umaid bhawan Palace. On top of a hill stands a palacial edifice of dreamlike proportions. It has a central cupola of over 105 foot high, 347 rooms, a private throne room, a public throne room, a banquet hall, an auditorium, 4 tennis courts, 2 marble squash courts, a croquet law, a simming pool, a ballroom, a library, a nusery and a garage for 20 vehicles. It is set in 26 acres of garden and took half a million donkey loads of earth to build. But unlike many of the monoliths in the area it was constructed neither as a fortress nor as a testimony to the power of ego, but as a famine relief project in 1929. And it worked. It kept over 3000 labourers gainfully employed
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