TRAVEL WEEKLY • JUNE 2014 51

INDIA – DEPARTURE LOUNGE

Once the domain of bejewelled monarchs,

India’s forts and palaces are opening to

tourists. Matt Doran heads back to the days

of empire to share a beer with a king

Hindsight is a wonderful indulgence.

Had I the chance to alter my first

meeting with the king of Udaipur

– the 76th custodian of the world’s

longest-serving royal family – I most certainly would

have ensured that I’d done my fly up.

But Royal Highness Arvind Singh, revered as a

particularly modern king by virtue of his fondness

for Facebook and iPad apps, quickly puts me at ease.

“You look like you could use a beer,” the king

suggests, commanding a member of his staff to

bring us two chilled Kingfishers.

I have been afforded the rare privilege of an

interview with the 69-year-old maharana (great

warrior king) in the private quarters of his palace in

the Rajasthani city of Udaipur.

Founded in the 16th century and set against the

backdrop of Lake Pichola and the Aravilli Mountains,

the city is fabled as India’s most romantic destination.

“You cannot come to visit Udaipur,” Singh says,

taking a seat on a tennis court-sized balcony. “You

must come to discover Udaipur. When an inquisitive

mind comes and starts truly looking, then will come

the orgasms.”

It’s an awkward but fitting description for the

city’s visual and cultural rewards: heaving bazaars,

marbled palaces and golden temples, plus the finest

and most intricate miniature paintings in the world.

The artists are descendants of those who’ve

painted for India’s kings and queens since the 15th

century, traditionally using squirrel or camel tails

as brushes and elephant ivory for canvas. Indeed,

elephants had it tough throughout India’s regal era:

the most lauded miniatures show the beasts fighting

before a cheering audience inside Udaipur’s City

Palace. The animals would be drugged with alcohol

and opium and incited with firecrackers before

being pitted against each other in deadly battles.

Occasionally, the more flamboyant kings would

even hang the creatures from palace ceilings to

ensure the structures could support the weight of

ludicrous crystal chandeliers.

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TRAVEL WEEKLY • JUNE 2014 53

INDIA – DEPARTURE LOUNGE

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good guide. I’m on a tour through Rajasthan with

luxury travel group Abercrombie & Kent (A&K),

and they’ve sourced me the most knowledgeable

and best connected guides in the business.

In the desert state’s colourful capital, Jaipur, A&K

has arranged rare access to the most private areas of

the 300-year-old City Palace.

The complex is home to one of India’s youngest

kings, 17-year-old billionaire Padmanabh Singh, and

offers sweeping views of the city, painted entirely pink to

match the region’s original Moghul forts and palaces.

Inside, the 300 rooms and elaborate furnishings

are testament to the obscene wealth accumulated by

Rajput maharajas over more than a thousand years.

“This dining room is still used by the royals to

host important guests. Here you can see a photo of

the maharaja with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince

Charles,” says my A&K guide Raj Singh, himself of

noble Rajasthani lineage.

It truly is like stepping on to the set of Game of Thrones: on display is a remarkable collection of

weaponry used by the Mughal emperors during

war campaigns. There are shields made from

rhinoceros, turtle and buffalo hide, poison-tipped

swords and daggers embellished with ivory and

adorned with colourful precious stones.

“This is the scissor-action dagger,” Raj boasts.

“When thrust into an enemy’s body it would snap

open, disembowelling the victim on its withdrawal.”

Elsewhere in the palace is an array of clothes

once worn by a particularly fleshy maharaja.

“Sawai Madhosingh was 1.2 metres wide and

weighed 250 kilograms, but still had 108 wives,” Raj

announces, giggling hysterically.

IN THE PICTURE

Previous pages: The Taj Rambagh Palace in Jaipur

Left: A street vendor in the colourful city of Udaipur

Above: Udaipur's king Arvind Singh presides over a lavish ceremonyAll photos: Matt Doran

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54 JUNE 2014 • TRAVEL WEEKLY

DEPARTURE LOUNGE – INDIA

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“And over here, the two largest silver vessels in

the world. These were made from 340 kilograms

of sterling silver so a former king’s servants could

carry 4000 litres of drinking water from the sacred

river Ganges on a trip to England.”

These days the toys are just as opulent, if a lot

more modern.

Back in Udaipur, Arvind Singh has directed me to

the living room of his palace, where he’s grinning

as he details the latest addition to his collection of

Rolls Royces: a 1924 GLK 21, the envy of vintage

car-lovers worldwide.

“The older the boy, the bigger the toys,” he says,

flattening his white silk gown.

His ceremonial traditions endure, too. I’ve been

invited as a guest of honour at an astonishingly

elaborate ritual on the eve of the Holi festival,

where the maharana leads a procession of horses,

drummers and a marching band into a palace

courtyard before descending from his coach in a

Kashmere-silk robe weighed down by jewels and an

ornate sword.

Protected by a colourful parasol, he conducts prayers

and then scatters holy river water before hosting an

open-air dinner for his several hundred guests.

“People come to this great country for the

cuisine, the spirituality, the people, the natural

beauty, but also for its heritage. If you take away the

heritage of the people, like the British did in 1947,

then you destroy the country,” he says, taking a seat

beneath an enormous crystal chandelier.

“People think we take our wealth for granted,

sitting around eating golden biscuits. But we have a

moral obligation to the people of Udaipur and India

not to fritter our fortunes away, but to use them to

help make this city even more magnifi cent.”

He pauses for a moment while I nervously snap

a series of photos, groping a string of Rudraksha

beads around his neck.

“Matt, young man, when you’re done, would you

mind sending me those photos on WhatsApp?”

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IN THEPICTURE

Above: The Lake Palace in Udaipur, which featured in the James Bond fi lm Octopussy

Right: Ornate interiors of the City Palace in JaipurAll photos: Matt Doran

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