POMP & PALAZZO

What do you think of when you see a fleet of vehicles racing past you on the road with fauji wives and their children all packed like sardines in a tin? That they are in a hurry to meet their husbands who have been out answering the call of duty? Well, you would be correct in that assumption — but only partially!

We were headed towards Dholpur from Agra (a distance of some 60 km) to meet our husbands alright, but we were not so worried about their welfare! We were out to have fun, a kind of a “picnic lunch”, you might say. That too, going through not the most salubrious of places — the infamous Chambal ravines in 46o C!

Yes, weird you might call us, but that is the spirit of us intrepid fauji wives, ready to travel at the drop of a hat!! We are just looking for an excuse to get together in a group to enjoy ourselves, even if that means travelling in the blazing heat! For me, it meant putting up my travelling antennae to absorb information about a new place. Whatever the individual reasons, our excitement levels were high!

In the first week of June, all the news channels were crammed with updates on the Gujjar protest which left North India paralysed for more than a week. Our troops, you may recall, had been sent to the places where protests threatened to disrupt normal life, and Dholpur was also one such place.

Before the officers and men were to return to base in Agra, we, the wives, decided to capitalise on the opportunity to check out Raj Niwas Palace, the primary residence of the maharaja of Dholpur, now a tasteful boutique heritage hotel. Of course there wa an added interest that the current titleholder is an MP for Jhalawar as well as the only child of the Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

The former princely state of Dholpur was relatively small, at 3,038 sq km, and Raj Niwas Palace is just just 240 km from Delhi. It’s even closer from Agra — only 60 km, and is also the only palace hotel within a 100 km radius. Moreover, it’s one of the few palace hotels to be situated near the Chambal river, like the city palace in Kota. Three years ago, Dushyant Singh threw open the doors of his abode for tourists.

We, of course, checked out the website of the palace (www.dholpurpalace.com) but it doesn’t measure up too well in terms of the historical information it offers on the palace or even about the Jat principality and its ruling family. The most disheartening is the attempt to garner maximum tourists by stating on the website that the distance from the palace to the Taj Mahal is just a 30 min drive, whereas the road and traffic conditions warrant a minimum of one hour to cover that distance....And I’m speaking from experience!

The palace offers three packages: the Roantic, Historical and Game Reserve Packages. The Romantic package includes a visit to the Taj Mahal, the Historical package includes a visit to other sites in Dholpur and Gwalior Fort (the home of the Scindias, who are Singh’s maternal relatives) and the Game Reserve package which includes the Bharatpur bird sanctuary, Van Vihar and Ram Sagar Sanctuaries.

That Raj Niwas Palace has an imposing structure, is not surprising: it is a royal residence. But what sets it apart is its interesting collection of art pieces as well as unsual interior decor. The artefacts include everything from ornate chandeliers to alabaster figurines. I did miss having these art pieces properly documented, though. A pamphlet with details of the collection’s history and provenance would have been most welcome.
We were greeted by a life-size leopard in the lobby of the palace, staring at us with its glassy eyes, in front of the fire place. It was more intimidating than inviting! We were then led to the main drawing room, which was filled with magnificent Ming vases over 5 ft high...Naturally we couldn’t resist the urge to pose with the vases, to underline that!
Next, we investigated the suites, which once must have played host to fellow royals from the Chamber of Princes. Now the suites go by the names Maharaja suite, Maharani suite, Prince of Wales suite and four other deluxe luxury suites, with rates starting going up to Rs 9000 per night. Predictably, all the rooms are very spacious indeed with high ceilings and four poster beds fit for, well, a king at least! And as if the high ceilings aren’t enough to fend off any heat creeping into the room, there are two air conditioners too!

Each suite is tastefully done up in different design themes and colours. Yet, all the rooms have a common feature — tiles that reach right up to the ceiling. While this dovetails with the Art Nouveau/ Art Deco style of many other Indian royal residences, it did seem to be much of a muchness to have them running right up to the top.

Having said that, I must also admit though that there is a certain dignity and aura about each suite which I warmed to. I don’t know whether it was due to the furniture or the artefacts. The bathing area also combines the antique with the contemporary: wonderful old style bathtubs with classic jacuzzis, and showers with chrome fittings.

In the lobby, we found out that what we thought were blow ups of photographs, were actually pencil sketches, exquisite, right down to the minutest detail of shadows. And we were charmed by a huge oval gong and a piccolo which beguiled us with its clear chimes.

Outside the palace, 12 more cottages are coming up in anticipation of a busy tourist season. Not bad, for a place that is best known in India for it’s distinctive stone (Dholpur) rather than heritage tourism potential! Satisfied that the morning was well spent, we headed straight towards the rather more plebian pleasures of a chhola bhatura lunch — the incentive being that it was to be shared with our husbands, taking a break from their duties!