The King’s Palace

A ruddy derelict building stands –

Beautiful, past its prime,

Like many a gem, humbled by

The crumbling layers of time

Rich and grand, though long ago,

Was it fit for a kingly stay?

The salt of seas for hills of teak

So far from Mandalay?

Ratnagiri for rich Rangoon

Could a Sea replace a Bay?

Hush, the palace warns our asks

The king rests here, let him lay

This was home, his final dream

His peace in last few years,

But if you listen carefully

You hear his exiled tears

You hear him cry for far-off home

The trudge of his heavy feet

For he who once owned land and skies

Had not a single street

This empty house his kingdom last -

Mandalay for a chawl,

Do you want to mock even this piece?

His last sceptre on a knoll

Red as Burmese rubies,

This house here tries to glow

But there’s that much that a moon can light

A prison that can grow

In the summer’s heat, we hear no more

But the sighs of a distant crown,

Broken dreams of Mandalay

That sleep in a Deccan town…

16^th January 2026

Thebaw Palace, located in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, is a historic monument associated with King Thibaw (Thebaw) Min, the last king of Burma, who lived here in exile under British rule from 1910 until his death. Built in a modest Indo-colonial style, the palace reflects the restrained life imposed on a dethroned monarch. In his final years, the king is believed to have used the palace grounds to occupy himself with reading, religious practices, gardening, and quiet contemplation, living a life far removed from royal splendor. Set amidst greenery with views of the Arabian Sea, the palace stands as a poignant symbol of exile, loss, and colonial control.

Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace mentions Ratnagiri as the remote coastal town where the exiled King Thebaw spent his final years