Hidden behind the high walls in the Karelibaug area of the city is the Mental Hospital (earlier known as Lunatic Asylum) of Baroda. It was to treat the mentally ill patients on opened on 28th June 1898.
Before this Asylum opened, dangerous lunatics were confined & treated in the Central Jail, under the Magistrate’s Order. Originally planned only for 28 patients, it was later expanded as the need for more accommodation grew. All criminal lunatics and lunatics under observation were kept in the custody in this hospital.
Exclusively reserved for patients only from the Baroda State, no foreign subjects were allowed except in case of emergency. In such cases, the expenditure was borne by that State from which the inmates came. In a similar way, any insane belonging to Baroda State was to be treated by the Baroda State only.
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Renamed as the Mental Hospital in 1922, the asylum is still actively involved in treating the mentally ill. It is popular among the citizens who make light-hearted jokes about it, saying ” I will give you to the mental hospital and get my reward” to anyone who is picking their brains, as the hospital is famous for giving rewards to anyone who brings in a patient !!
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