The Resplendent Glory of Jodhpur

Saw this most engaging documentary on the Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur on Discovery channel. What was amazing was how this royal has managed to maintain the traditions of his royal house at his own expense. Of course, the pomp is a bit subdued, the attendants look a bit down cast and jaded and the entourage isn’t as big as it must have been in those days of yore when the royals must have sashayed into their palaces in style. Royalty has its charm, I think.

But what it gave me was a look into their lives, the way their lives must have been lived in those ramparts, the stones of which tell the story of love, hatred, betrayal and war. The ancient legacy of India, a rich Rajput tradition that speaks of the glory of India before the British Raj, is displayed in the customs and ceremonies still followed by the descendant of this royal family. A good effort, well captured on television. After all, who can manage to keep up those tradition now that the kings and princes don’t even receive a privy purse? The struggle Maharaja Gaj Singh takes to maintain his forts and museums was, to my mind, obvious from the documentary.

See it on Discovery channel if you can, if only to capture the glory of an India that has passed into the pages of history, whose traditions are being valiantly upheld by the royals of Jodhpur.