To get a glimpse into the royal past of Jammu & Kashmir, one should visit the Amar Mahal, a famous tourist attraction in Jammu city. Once a palace constructed for Raja Amar Singh in the 19th century, it is now a museum housing several important artefacts, the most attractive one of which is the Golden Throne weighing 120 kilograms. The throne is well guarded and although it is kept inside a locked room, it is visible through the panels. Other artefacts on display are Kangra miniature paintings, a library housing 25,000 historic books and a valuable collection of precious art. Since it was the last seat of the Dogra emperor, a wonderful collection of pictures of the royal family is also on display. Inside the museum compound is an imposing statue of Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of royal Dogra dynasty & the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. You can also get a view of the Tawi River from the museum.

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 the Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, on 13 April 1975. To promote the stated objectives, the Trust arranges guided tours, book readings, lectures, film shows and hobby classes and other visitor friendly activities in the Museum. Scholarly exchanges, workshops and exhibitions are also regular features held by the Trust. The Dogra-Pahari paintings displayed in the museum were creation of the second half of the 18th century in Jammu and Himachal Pradesh of the Kangra school of art. To quote the words of Karan Singh: "The whole effect is to transport one into a fascinating miniature world with its own aura and ethos.