The Amar Mahal Palace is a palace in Jammu, in the Indian erstwhile Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The palace has now been converted into a museum. Commissioned by Maharaja Amar Singh, a Dogra king, the palace was built in the nineteenth century by a French architect on the lines of a French Chateau. The palace was donated to the Hari-Tara Charitable Trust by Karan Singh for use as a museum. It has many exhibits including a golden throne weighing 120kg, a Pahari miniature, Kangra miniature paintings, a library of 25,000 antique books, many rare art collections, and a large collection of portraits of the royal family. The palace was the last official residence of the Dogra dynasty and the last king of the kingdom Maharaja Hari Singh. Geography Amar Mahal is situated on the right bank of the Tawi River, on a bend of the river, in Jammu. Tawi river is also known as Suryaputri Tawi (Suryaputri is a Hindi word meaning 'The Daughter of The Sun God').Jammu, once a princely city, is also famous for forts, palaces and temples. The Sivalik Hills or ranges to the north of the Mahal, on the left bank of the river, provide a grand view, with the Tawi River flowing in between, draining the valley. It is well located adjoining the heritage hotel known as the Hari Niwas Palace Hotel, in the heart of the city, on the road to Kashmir. History The Amar Mahal Palace was planned by a French architect, in 1862. However, it was not built until the 1890s. Maharani Tara Devi, wife of the late Maharaja Hari Singh (son of Raja Amar Singh) lived in this palace till her death in 1967. Subsequently, her son Karan Singh and his wife Yasho Rajya Lakshmi converted the palace into a museum to house rare books and works of art, with the objective of "Encouraging artistic talent, to establish fine arts centre and to collaborate with other like minded institutions for promotion of Indian arts". For this purpose, they transferred the palace property to a trust named as the "Hari-Tara Charitable Trust". Karan Singh voluntarily surrendered the Privy Purse paid to him by the Government of India as a former ruler of Jammu, one of the Princely state of India, and used the funds to set up this museum named in memory of his parents. The museum was inaugurated by