15 September,2010 07:17 AM IST | | Namita Gupta
Now you can talk the walk with the state's first ever-audio tour guide of the Bangalore Palace starting today and at the Mysore Palace from tomorrow onwards
Your ticket for a tour of the Bangalore Palace just got a tad dearer as the Maharaja is out with another commercial venture, after his Royal Silks design creations (where he creates and sells dresses out of sarees handed down from generations) an audio tour of the Bangalore Palace kick starting today.
Following this will be an audio tour launch of the Mysore Palace Residential Museum beginning tomorrow.
Sri Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and Lady Penelope Street, Founder and Executive Director of Narrowcasters India, the company behind the tour began work on the project in October 2009, initiated by Lady Penelope, who has also held such guided audio tours in popular tourist destinations in Rajasthan and Agra.
After several meetings with Christine Sharma and Penny Street, CEO and Director, Narrowcasters and Michael Ludgrove, Curator of Royal Collections, the script was prepared after research and inputs by Wadiyar.
Actor Roshan Seth was roped in for his voiceover in English and once you hear him, the 50-minute walk and seven language options, might actually get interesting with this 21-section simple, user-friendly application.
The multilingual audio guide is available in Kannada, Hindi, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese.
Penelope Street says, "The Audio Tour is a great tool, used increasingly by tourist sites all over the world, giving a well researched and precise account of the historical and cultural background of the site."u00a0
At The Bangalore Palace.
Call 2336 0818/2331 5789.
For While the earlier tours with or without local city guides were on offer at Rs 100 for Indians and Rs 200 for foreigners, the fee with an add-on hi-tech Multi Lingual Audio Tour will be up for Rs 175 for Indians and Rs 350 for foreign nationals
On 10 am to 5.30 pm everyday.
What's an Audio Tour
The audio guide uses a headset with built-in microphones with pause/replay, slow down or delay buttons through which a tourist can hear a recorded script guiding one to various rooms, halls and courtyards with numbered signposts through a corresponding number announced on the headset.
The main draw is the hunter room where the royal catch photographs display the kings hunting exhibitions in Ootacamand, the Jockey weighing scale, the brilliant art on display along with a few collection of royal photographs.
Namita Gupta chats up with the Sri Srikanta Datta Mysore Maharaja, Narasimharaja Wadiyar
Audio tours are nothing new in India. Why now?
This is the right time to launch the audio tour as Dasara is nearing and at this time we get a very good turn out of national and international visitors.
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How are the price points kept so low?
We have intentionally kept it at Rs 350 to kickstart the project and will soon raise it to Rs 500.u00a0
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The Bangalore Palace exteriors are grand, though the interiors don't offer much in terms of grandeur as some of the art masterpieces have been auctioned in London, the bedrooms have paint peeling and furniture tearing apart. Is there restoration work in progress?
We didn't get possession of the palace due to legal battles reaching a partial settlement in 1982 before a final settlement in 1992. The restoration work has begun which will first see filling in the leaks and cracks and will slowly move to the restoration of finer details.u00a0u00a0u00a0
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What are the costs incurred on the project?
We have not invested any money on the project upfront. The profits from the collections will be collected on a monthly basis and will be shared by Narrowcasters and the Royal Palace.u00a0
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How many visitors do you get? And how has the government helped in the project?
We get a good crowd on weekends. On an average about 3,000 to 4,000 people in a month with the numbers expected to get better now. The government has not pitched in in any way. It's a private project.
