This resplendent 1835 raja’s mansion is overstuffed with dusty statues of thinkers and dancing girls, much Victoriana, ample Belgian glassware and fine if bedraggled paintings, including supposedly original works by Murillo, Joshua Reynolds and Rubens.
Napoleons beat Wellingtons three to one in the music room, which is lavishly floored with marble inlay. The ballroom retains its vast array of candle chandeliers with globes of silvered glass to spread illumination: original 19th-century disco balls!
Admission is free, but before arriving you need to get a permission note from West Bengal Tourism or India Tourism . To find Marble Palace from MG Rd metro, walk north and turn left at the first traffic light (171 Chittaranjan Ave). Coming from the east, it's on the lane that leaves Rabindra Sarani between #198 and #200.
