Sunday, September 16, 2001		Article

CAIRO is one of the most ancient bastions of Islam and its famous Al Azhar University devoted to Muslim theology is the final arbiter, when it comes to interpretation of the Koran. Walking in the suburbs of the famous city, replete with ancient mosques and museums redolent with Islam, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Hindu Palace in the elite suburb of Heliopolis. From the outside, this mansion looks just like one of the fabulous Hindu temples of Orissa with the Garuda and other Hindu icons sculpted on its facade. Since it is one of the protected monuments of the Egyptian Archaeological Department, there was no problem in walking into the grounds of the building and examining it at close quarters. This palace with beautiful sculptures of Hindu deities was vacant. An enquiry from the watchman revealed that this has been so for decades....

Amused at the astonished look on my face, an Egyptian friend, a journalist, told me that it was known as the Hindu Palace for nearly 90 years. According to him, an article was published in the Egyptian Gazette two decades ago, describing the history of the palace.

Baron Ambon, belonging to one of the eminent aristocratic families of France, had extensive business interests in Indonesia. An eminent Egyptologist, after his retirement from his commercial career, he decided to settle down in Cairo. Ever since the interest shown by Napoleon 200 years ago, France has always been in the forefront when it comes to study of Egyptology.

During the turn of the century,, Ambon became the adviser to the Egyptian Government on metropolis planning. He developed the suburbs of Cairo into magnificent plazas/gardens/and residential areas. For his own home, he chose Heliopolis — the best portion of the super-rich planned suburb. He decided to build a huge mansion, which was to be a copy of the Indonesian Hindu temples he had seen during his sojourn in that country. He obtained the best Indonesian artists and sculptors for its construction. In a matter of few years, the Hindu Palace became one of the magnificent buildings of Cairo.

The Baron was immensely rich and even after his demise his children stayed on and were one of the elite families of Cairo. They were very friendly with the Egyptian Royal Family and were on first-name terms with King Faroukh (deposed in 1951), who was one of their close friends.

In the late 1940s, Baroness Ambon, the owner of the Hindu Palace was dining in one of the famous restaurants in the vicinity of the Pyramids. Suddenly she found that the waiters had disappeared from her table and were concentrating on a group nearby. Not used to this kind of carelessness, she loudly asked for the head waiter. In a hushed tone, the head waiter told her that as King Faroukh had come to dine in the restaurant, the waiters were attending to the monarch and would soon come to take care of her orders. The Baroness, in a drunken mood, got very upset and shouted in a loud voice that she did not care who King Faroukh was and that she wanted immediate service and that it was her command!

The King of Egypt heard her. Normally, King Farouk, then in his regal prime, would not have bothered since the Baroness was one of his intimate friends. To be insulted in a public place and to be told that he was a nobody in his own capital of Cairo was too much for him. He sent word to the Baroness’s table, saying that since she had insulted him, and that she must leave Egypt immediately. Otherwise, she would be arrested.

The Baroness returned to the Hindu Palace and to make amends for her misbehaviour. But, it was too late and King Faroukh was firm. The owner of the Hindu Palace left Egypt forever. After some time, the Egyptian government decided to take over the mansion as a cultural heritage and has been maintaining it, although it has been kept locked as a property of Ambons. The Ambons, still one of the top industrial elite of France, did not bother to claim their Palace back.

For the last few decades nobody, except official surveyors, had been inside the building and one does not know as to what treasures are left in the palace. In the early 70s, Muslim fundamentalists, especially in Saudi Arabia, were enraged that, at the citadel of Muslim Cairo, there is a Hindu palace with the icons of Hinduism represented!

It appears that they told the Egyptian Government that they would buy the Hindu palace for whatever price demanded by the Egyptians and would have it demolished. The Egyptian Archaeological Department told them firmly, that irrespective of its symbols, the building represented the heritage of Egypt and they would not allow its destruction. Later, a group of Arab businessmen wanted to lease the mansion and convert it into a modern casino. Here also they could not get the clearance from the Egyptian Government.

As such, today, in the most modern suburb of Cairo, one finds this wonderful Hindu temple-like mansion. It has a haunted look because for more than 50 years, it has been uninhabited. Egyptians are proud of this building. MF