Rani Mahal "The Taj Mahal of Nepal"

Rani Mahal (Nepali: रानी महल) is a palace situated in the banks of the holy Kali Gandaki River in Palpa distict of Nepal.
The Palace was said to be a token of love which was constructed by the General Khadga Shumsher JBR in 1893.

History

[source;Wikipedia]

In 1887 General Khadga Samsher Rana was forced to drop his royal titles and was sent to Palpa-Gauda as the Western Commander in Chief of Nepal.
At Palpa-Gauda in 1892 Khadga Shumsher's beloved youngest wife Tej Kumari Devi died and within a year Khadga built a palace and named after his wife as Rani Mahal (Literary translates as Queens Palace).
He also named the nearby forest as Rani Ban (Rani forest) along with naming the Ghats as Rani Ghat.
In 1902, Khadga Samsher Rana along with his family fled from Nepal to India abandoning Rani Mahal which resulted in negligence of Rani mahal and eventually this palace structure started crumbling.

Children staring at camera as we hike towards Rani Mahal

A breathtaking view of Himalayan Range can be seen from Batasedanda

It takes just an hour to reach Ranimahal as there is a motorable road.Also,foot trail from kailash nagar near the Batasedanda,about 8 km from the city tansen leads to this historical palace.It roughly takes about 3-4 hours walk to Ranimahal from bataedanda.

Spot for Internal & External Toursit attraction

For decades Ranimahal has been in limelight for tourist attraction.The flow of external toursist has been flourished as the motorable road is made available.Not plenty but one can find hotels and some homestay out there which provides typical nepali foods and home made special wines.The increasing amout of tourist has induced the establishment some good guest houses too which provides the stuffs for camping like tents,woods for fire,and imported wines and liquers.Ultimately,this has been the source of income for the villagers out there.According to the tourist board,the number of toursit is expected to be at its peak in coming few years.