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| Artists drawing |
This is another unknown site in Bangkok off the beaten track. No visitor ever come here although it is located in Dusit near three major tourist attractions: Anantasamakom Throne Hall, Vimanmek Mansion and Dusit Zoo.
Perhaps it is because it is labelled as the Police Museum. But the estate is located in a lovely garden on Ayutthaya Road, not too far away from the Marble Temple, another well-known site in this area. The garden has two buildings: a beautiful villa built in a colonial style more than a century ago and a modern glass museum in the back.
The villa, called Chitralada Villa, was built at the request of the late King Rama V at the beginning of the 20th century for Crown Prince Maha Vajiravudh. It was completed in 1906. It was designed by an Italian architect, Mr. Mario Tamagno, who was the appointed architect of the Public Works Department at the time. The villa has an Italian style adapted to the neo-colonial architecture of the period. The interior was designed in the Art Nouveau style with a clear inspiration of Baroque and Rococo styles.
The flower design on doors and windows is known as bhu ra na ka ta in Sanskrit. The pamphlet they
give at the reception desk explains that bhu ra na means 'fertility' and kata is a 'water pitcher'. So the pitcher design is a symbol of a pot full of fertility with its surrounding floral design.The pamphlet explains it is meant « to produce an effect of happiness, peacefulness, fertility and an inspiration for intellectual creativity ».
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| Floral frieze |
Entrance is free. The garden is designed in the European style with statues, a pond with a fountain and another one with a gazebo. It attracts local artists practicing the art of drawing.
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| Ceiling decoration |
Christian Sorand
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| Door ornamentation |
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| Garden view of Parusakawan Mansion |
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