Preserved With Care, Changing With Love

Established in the early 1870s, the Jai Vilas Mahal is home to the Royal Family of Gwalior, the Scindias. Often the preservation of royal traditions and architecture can be daunting, but this is where Maharani Priyadarshini Raje Scindia steps in with aplomb. She’s heralding a much needed change to make the palace museum a thriving centre of design and culture, and nurture local talent.

by Aditya Vir Roy

| Spread over (approx) 30 acres, the Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior is luxury at its finest. This 3-storied palace with it’s beautiful mix of Tuscan, Italian Doric and Corinthian architecture, was established in 1874 by Maharajadhiraj Shrimant Jayajirao Scindia.

With the fragmentation of the Mughal rule in India and the imminent rise of the Maratha Empire, the semi-autonomous state of Gwalior came into existence. Gwalior rose to prominence in Central India and began to dominate the affairs of the confederacy. What is a princely state such as this worth, if it doesn’t boast of a palace that fits, if not exceeds, the reputation of its rulers and history?

Spread over close to 30 acres, the Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior is luxury at its finest. This 3-storied palace with it’s beautiful mix of Tuscan, Italian Doric and Corinthian architecture, was established in 1874 by Maharajadhiraj Shrimant Jayajirao Scindia to welcome Prince George and Princess Mary of Wales who were due to visit two years on from then. It still is home to the Scindia family, the royal family of Gwalior.

I have been incredibly lucky to not only visit but to stay at the palace, courtesy of my dear school friend, the young prince of Gwalior. With its many magnificent bedrooms, gorgeous, gilded reception halls, the chandelier adorning Durbar Hall Wing, the grand staircase complex (a personal favourite of mine) and many others striking features that maintain and preserve not just a physical structure of this scale but the history and traditions that go with it. Often the preservation of royal traditions and architecture can be daunting, but not for the Scindia family and the beautiful Jai Vilas Mahal. Sure, there are challenges and complications that come along with being proprietors of a space like this, but that’s where Maharani Priyadarshini Raje Scindia steps in with aplomb .

Owing to her Maratha Nepalese royal lineage and marrying into the same royal heritage, there were several cultural synergies. The differences lay more so in personal family values and ceremonies, which encouraged the Maharani to bring in some of her own Maratha sensibilities. In her words, " some of the changes that started coming into play were things such as language, for instance, speaking Marathi again, bringing in more Marathi-speaking people to work around the palace and basically just reviving that part of the cultural lineagle again. Restarting certain ceremonies that may have been sort of lost over time was very important to me", she adds.

"I am not a historian. Rather, I call myself a storyteller and I take great pride in telling the stories the way they need to be told." she quips. “A lot of our history is also written by the British. So, it's a history that's written in a different language and needs to be retold in our own vernacular.” The Maharani has immersed herself in bringing alive a reservoir of written and oral history, the culture and the people, bringing to the forefront scholars, craftspeople,

| The museum is packed with incredibly priceless items and artisans. This cultural preservation has evolved into a full fledged physical responsibility that comes with inheriting the palace museum attached to the Jai Vilas Mahal. This is the one task her father-in-law and parliamentarian, the late Madhav Rao Scindia was extremely keen on her taking up. And the Maharani herself, being a sharp, culturally and historically well-read people's person, could uplift the museum and the palace with so much ease.

What stands out when speaking with Maharani Scindia is her perspective on the palace. She talks of this beautiful architectural heritage building as a person and that too, giving it a feminine noun. "She just keeps me going all the time. It’s because she is not just a relic, she’s something that we look up to constantly. She's held her own against the onslaught of battles, nature and human interference. Even today, she inspires us to work harder because she just expects a certain level of care. She keeps you on your toes, she's constantly keeping you motivated. You're constantly thinking about her because she demands that from you. " This personification of Jai Vilas Mahal by the Maharani is nothing short of fascinating.

The white-painted sandstone the palace’s interiors feature halls upon galleries lined with antiquities, portraits, priceless carpets and more that are meticulously kept as a legacy of the family. The museum is packed with incredibly priceless items, such as the Silver Buggy, the Scindia family's royal carriage that was created in the late 19th century under the rule of HH Madho Rao Scindia. The Palace is also home to the Kirman Masha'ir carpet which is one

When one works in heritage palaces one inherits quite a few set in stone systems. The conversations with the staff about the changes I want to bring in, what the museum is going to be about, and what it will stand for, are never easy.

Maharani Priyadarshini Raje Scindia

of the greatest in the world, made in the city of Kerman in south-eastern Iran. In this pictorial carpet, the main field and the medallion are covered with 185 portraits of European leaders and Persian emperors, including those of Jesus, Napoleon and a youthful Shah of Iran.

“When one works in heritage palaces, one inherits quite a few set in stone systems. The conversations with the staff about the changes I want to bring in, what the museum is going to be about, and what it will stand for, are never easy.” Priyadarshini Raje Scindia’s quest has been to take it from being a decorative arts museum to a space of culture and design.

She now works directly with local youth and local artisans which includes retraining them to showcase both traditional and contemporary artwork, be it stone crafts, pottery or ceramics. Priyadarshini adds, "The responsibility of the palace even today is to be a center of design, creation and recreation." Given the cultural complexities in the structures of the palace, workers and craftspeople are exposed to a range of styles enabling them with multiple opportunities in the marketplace. " The palace itself offers the artisans food for thought and is a great place for them to start exploring their own ideas.”

The responsibility of royal living in modern times is something Maharani Priyadarshini Raje Scindia is adamant her children learn and understand. " It's about the work we all must put in. It’s a privilege, yes, but one that comes with serious responsibility.” This is abundantly clear from the respect and adulation the family receives from the people around, with the Maharani leading the preservation of Maratha history, tradition, and culture in its ever-so multi-dimensional form. v