Gaj Singh II tells a true story as if it could happen to anyone: When he was four years old, his father, the tall, handsome Hanwant Singh, crashed his The plane is dead. The boy was only told that his father had "gone" and that he would be the 29th king of the state of Jodhpur. On the day of his coronation, thousands of people celebrated in the streets. The air resounded with trumpets and drums as the new king, resplendent in a turban and a stiff-collared silk suit, was surrounded by gold coins.
That was 1952. India gained independence five years ago by transferring power from the British crown to the successor states of India and Pakistan. Singh's mother, Maharani Krishna Kumari, recognized a new reality. She sent her son to England to study at Coghill College and then Eton. "She didn't want me to grow up in the palace, among the palace attendants, thinking nothing had changed," Singh, now 68, recalled recently. "Tall, bearded, with his hair behind the bed, he usually Wearing a festive headscarf and holding a glass of champagne, he mingled with celebrity guests including Mick Jagger and Prince Charles, but he looked frail in person and his voice was low and serious. He is often seen in the jodhpurs named after the seat of the kingdom, where he today wears only a green cotton tunic and trousers
Although Singh visited India during the school holidays in 1971. He returned permanently at the age of 23 after graduating from Oxford University with a postgraduate degree in philosophy, politics and economics. Things did change: Prime Minister Gandhi was determined to strip the royal family of their titles and abolish "privy purses" or allowances. Since these allowances were provided for their dissolution of the monarchy after independence, several members of the royal family, led by Singh's uncle, the Maharaja of Baroda, formed a negotiating glove with Gandhi, demanding a gradual change in their situation. But Gandhi prevailed. "We became bad boys," Singer said with a shrug, not entirely hiding the sting. Stripped of his $125,000 annual stipend, Singer needed to find a way. To offset the cost of repairs to palaces, forts, jewellery, paintings and cars, including the Rolls-Royce Phantom II that formed his lavish legacy
Young, decisive and armed with a handful of advisers, he set up the trust. and Penney, to protect and reinvest his assets, and while in Europe he saw how aristocrats turned their mansions into hotels and opened their magnificent gardens to those who had tickets to travel," said Singer. It got me thinking: We can do this too. ". He came into contact with some of India's best conservationists and environmentalists. "I was more open to suggestions than other royals," he added with a laugh. "I jumped at an opportunity. ”
The opportunity he took and its rewards can be seen today in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. This five-century-old city is a fairy tale. A labyrinth of ornate entryways, ancient temples and mysterious gated havelis or mansions, many of which originated from Rao Jodha's ancestors. The city was founded in 1459 as the home of the Rajput warriors of the Rathore family. The clan of Jodha's descendants, the Singhs, still live here and it is evident from their handlebar beards that they are Rajputs. Well twirled. Shiny gold hoops glittered in their ears. Women wore gaudy, brightly colored saris but covered their faces for modesty at Umaid Gaj Singh II. , a residential palace built by his grandfather (Dhruv Malhotra). Gilded furniture decorated the 347-room palace hall.
(Dhruv Malhotra) The billiards room at Umaid Bhawan (Dhruv Malhotra) The royal family has turned a large part of the 15th-century Mehrangarh fort into a first-class museum, where visitors can view the Moti Mahal or the Pearl Palace of Pearls). (Dhruv Malhotra) Visitors view the museum’s weapons collection. (Dhruv Malhotra) The staff wore traditional clothes for the tour. (Dhruv Malhotra) At dusk, fruit bats chirp above the Balsamand Lake Palace, five miles north of Chowdur, originally built as a summer residence for the king of Chowdur and now a hotel. (Dhruv Malhotra) The 12th-century fortified complex of the ancient city of Nagore (above) now contains a hotel: the Ranwas Hotel. The Dhruv Malhotra hotel features rooms in an 18th-century ranis or queen's residence. (Dhruv Malhotra) Jodhpur Princess Shivranjani Rajye has taken a strong family leadership role in opening the royal estate to a wider audience. (Dhruv Malhotra)
Singh is not the first prominent Indian royal to monetize his legacy. Jaipur's Rambagh Palace was converted into a hotel in 1957 and features an ornate Mogul's Terrace and crystal chandeliers. The Lake Palace in Udaipur was built in the 17th century as a summer retreat for the royal family of the kingdom and began accepting luxury tourists in 1963. This white marble palace is built on a rocky outcrop in the center of a sparkling lake, floating far above the water. Twenty years later, it was immortalized by Hollywood in the James Bond film Octopuss.
However, countless royal properties in India fell into ruins. The Archaeological Survey of India, a government agency, has tried to preserve some, not always successfully. A 2012 government report found that even World Heritage sites were in disrepair and their artifacts were being smuggled out of the country.
Monuments were nationalized in independent India, in part because many members of the royal family were unable to preserve their heritage. Some lacked foresight; lengthy legal battles deterred others. After the death of the glamorous Maharani of Jaipur in 2009, Gayatri Devi's family filed a lawsuit in court over her $400 million fortune, which included: Rambagh and many other palaces, a huge jewelry collection, and an apartment in London's Mayfair district.
Property disputes have sometimes been the last word on their legacies, tarnishing the reputations of India's royal families. However, these problems began only after independence, when it became clear that the royal wealth was built on the hard slave labor of the poor. Even as the royals ruled from the palace with as many as 500 servants, their subjects still lived in poverty under an inhuman caste system that determined where they lived and worked. Members of the royal family also bore the taint of siding with the British in India's struggle for independence. Unlike their British counterparts, they are neither widely accepted nor widely respected today.
Singer, to his credit, did not ignore the views of people like him then and now. "It's a shame," he said. "Things are changing, but we're suffering because of it."
Unlike some sniper royalty, Singh puts his energy into his work. He first turned his attention to the Hrangarh Fort, or Fort of the Sun, which loomed 400 feet above Jodhpur. For decades, bats were the fort's only permanent residents, and in the early 1970s, Singh's first route from Mehrangarh was to sell their droppings.
His Mehrangarh Fort Trust sells bat guano to chilli farmers for use as fertilizer.
Within the sandstone buttons of the fort are palaces, courtyards, dungeons and shrines. Climb to the top and get a breathtaking bird's eye view of the city. Just below, Bramhapuri, part of the old city, unfolds in a sea of ??blue, a color that, according to some, was used by Brahmins to paint their houses to distinguish them from others. In addition to temples, lakes and the remote sand dunes of Thar, or the Great Indian Desert,
Singh donated nearly 15,000 items from his personal collection to the Trust to establish a museum within the fort. Opened in 1974, it is a dazzling venue with broad appeal. Young men with gleaming swords and daggers *** in the weapons gallery. Couples are intrigued by the gently rocking royal baby cradle. Visitors gawk as 16 fine Gouda carriages prepare to ride an elephant. A little guy named Vodka, grandfather of "KDSPE" Singh, Umaid Singh, father of Hanwant Singh, in 1929 on a mountain hundreds of feet above sea level. The foundation stone of the palace was laid. Giles Tillotson, writing in one of his books about the family, recalled fondly in his obituary in the *** that he once brought four wives, seventy ponies and a hundred The servants visited Britain during the polo season, and Umaid Singh commissioned the palace to "reflect the country's prestige". In an interview, Gaji Singh emphasized that Umaid Bhawan was built for charity and to provide employment opportunities to the poor to avoid famine during droughts. Designed by the British architect Henry Lanchester, the palace is a marble and sandstone wonder in a style sometimes called Hindu Deco, surrounded by 26 acres of gardens. It has a central hall and beautifully carved columns, topped by an elaborate dome. Visitors walking through the halls tend to bump into something because they can't take their eyes off the ceiling. The room is fan-shaped on all sides. There was a sofa in the elevator where the young royal would sneak in for cigarette breaks and take hotel guests to the top floor, which was decorated with a mural by Polish artist Stefan Norblin. The king and queen's original grand suite had pink marble, silver accents and a sunken bathtub.
On a recent visit, British director Gurinder Chadha was in the middle of eight weeks of filming on her film The Governor's House, which stars The X-Files' Gillian Anderson and Starring Hugh Bonneville, best known for playing the patriarch of Downton Abbey's other luxury hotel. It is said that movies were often shot at the palace, so visiting friends of the Singer family were often invited on board as extras.
While the final decision on family property issues rests with Singh, he has involved his 41-year-old daughter Shivranjani Rajye in the business. The two have a close relationship, but she is the first to say that her new role was not something the two of them planned.
Singh also has a son, Shivraj. Although he is a year younger than his sister, as the male heir, Shifra will inherit his father's title and all property. Therefore, he was also trained to take over his father's job until 2005, when the 29-year-old suffered a head injury while playing polo and slipped into the A-League. Gaj Singh sighed and said: "It has a pleat.". "It was a big emotional and organizational derailment." Singh said that although his son is now much better in a "good shape," she is Shivranjani, who is petite, has a quick laugh and has thick black hair. Her long hair flows down her shoulders and she is involved with the Museum Trust. She also runs Jodhana Properties, an umbrella business that manages the family's hotels and oversees the music festival currently taking place at the forts.
Shivranjani is the least known of the royal family.
Unlike her brother, whose social life has been chronicled by tabloids, she has had little to no press. She's hardly a wallflower, though: She's warm and charismatic, and is seen as more approachable than other family members. Her lucky Jack Russell and Fifi (named after the cocktail) follow her wherever she goes.
Just as Singh's mother sent him abroad, he also took his children away from the palace in the hope of giving them a normal childhood. The family spent their early years in the Caribbean island of Trinidad, where Singh was a diplomat. Shivranjani was only 6 years old when he returned to Jodhpur. The train station platform was packed with well-wishers and her father was carried away in the tide of celebration. She said it was the first time she realized he was a public figure. “I just burst into tears,” she recalled over tea at the Umaid Bhawan Heritage Room. "But my brother loved it. He knew it was part of his life