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basement of structures in the Royal Area
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One of the puzzling questions the archeologists have been asking during earlier periods of their excavations: Where is the king’s Palace?
Converse to the expectations, the remains of the King’s palaces of such a sprawling ancient metropolis is not as gregarious as one would expect. They are not the ones that standout amid the ruins. Not least because they were built modestly… the kings did live in luxurious palaces. Their elimination owe to two major factors. First, for obvious reasons it’s the palaces that took the brunt of the annihilation during the raids by the invading army. Second, the palaces where built with wooden super superstructure and got eliminated easily in the arson that followed the fall of the capital.
What remains of the erstwhile palaces are at the best grand plinths and ornate foundations. About half a dozen structures remains in the Royal Area are designated as the basement of palaces. A few of them are in the Danaik’s Enclosure area, one opposite to the Mahanavami Dibba , another one believed to be of the queen’s palace inside the Zenana Enclosure and a couple of smaller ones are located near the Octagonal Bath.
Most of these have one thing in common, the style of the bases. Typically the basements of palaces are multi-cornered multi-layered with elephant balustrades at the entrance.
