The Art Gallery of Ontario has opened its newest exhibit, Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

The Art Gallery of Ontario hopes some historic bling and one fabulous luxury car will bring out a young audience, as well as the city's South Asian community.

Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts, which opened Saturday at the AGO, aims to give visitors a sense of the opulent life of India's kings of the 1930s. The museum said admittance was also be free to anyone under 25, an unprecedented move for the gallery made possible by a corporate donation.

More than 200 pieces are on display for the first time in Canada, including paintings, furniture, jewelry and a custom-built 1934 Rolls Royce automobile. The orange-and-silver Phantom II, built for Thakore Sahib Dharmendrasinhji Lakhajiraj of Rajkot (Gujarat), is called the "Star of India."

Haema Sivanesan, a curator hired specially for this exhibit, said it's "really amazing that we have it here."

Another attention grabber is a necklace covered in 2,930 diamonds that was commissioned by another Indian king.

"I think he was a maharajah who was himself larger than life and this necklace is also larger than life," Sivanesan said.

The curator, who has tried to ensure cultural sensitivity and inclusion, says having an exhibit focused completely on Indian history is significant.

"Toronto has such a big South Asian community and it's actually a really good opportunity for those people to come and see the legacy of their culture, their heritage," Sivanesan said.

The exhibit is scheduled to run until April 3, 2011.