This chapter is dedicated to Nisha(.LadyHitler.). I love you Nishu for being so supportive and making me feel like my writing is worth something. And also for helping me.
Those who don't like reading too much detail of the surroundings can skip the portion in blue.
Chapter One:
The Pavilion of the Past
History of Andulas "Mitwaar" Palace over the Ages
By Leopold Brian Thomas
Page 1
The Andulas Palace furnishes an awe-inspiring panoramic view from the Mehranhaar Fort. Located in Jodhpur, Rajasthan it was built in 17oo AD on the behest of Maharaja Andulas Singh, ruler of the former princely state of Jodhpur at that time, descendant of Maharaja Suraj Singh.
Unsurprisingly it conquered the name from the Maharaja who was a dearly loved sovereign of the natives of Jodhpur. A man of ideology and perceptiveness, with a fanatical heart and the concern for being the superior hand in the prosperity and well fare of his subjects, the Maharaja always stayed vigilant about the state dealings. Jodhpur's Andulas Palace was essentially constructed for the interests of the populace.
The intention was to endow employment to the people of Jodhpur throughout a long period of dearth and famine. He exploited the services of an illustrious Edwardian architect for the edifice of this palace.
Andalus palace of Jodhpur is exemplary of Indo-Saracenic architecture. Over four thousand artisans were employed in the erection of this palace.
Presently, in another dissection of the palace is a well-maintained museum. There is also the Throne Room with its exquisite Ramayana murals, a library, a classified museum, and game courts.
Page 65
In 1868 the royal descendant Maharaja Susheem Singh, was cosseted in belittling and diminishing the imperial assets of his pedigree.
The Great War of independence, had been waged, its effects and hardships having flame out over the period and the British forces ruled the subcontinent which lay strewn from the Mughal Empire Ruling. The Muslims were deprived of status, opulence and affluence falling back conceding yet inadvertent into the bleakness of oblivion and the subterranean slumber of suppression. The smoldering disparagement for the Hindus as for the treason, and condescension for the British in the divulging milieu of being nefarious back stabbers was still unsullied in their hearts. That was the time when Sir Syed Ahmed Khan rose to the stimulation of his fellow brothers after suffering from the brunt of Urdu-Hindi controversy (1967), that fastidious incident revolutionized Sir Syed's viewpoint. He felt obliged to introduce western-style scientific education amongst the Muslims who were clearly in jeopardy by the stringency of their orthodox outlooks.
The Hindus, on the other hand. brewing hatred too for the Muslims for they had ruled for centuries on them, and finally they felt free. Free to breathe and free to live from under their rule.
Between the Hindu-Muslim walls of hatred the British continued to work for their own benefit.
And that was the time when the Maharaja of Jodhpur was given a choice, a choice to capitulate in every respect or to prolong his unwarranted ruling. The latter proposition set forth by the British docked certain pros and cons i.e., the Maharaja would be allowed to preserve his title of a "Maharaja" only if he asserted in letting the British forces to have the upper hand in the dealings of the state. All supremacy would respite with the British but the designation of "Maharaja" would be safeguarded. The depleting wealth and the dithering royal position forced the Maharaja to make the sacrificial deal.
He was distinctively known for having an unsatisfied matrimonial life with his only wife which led him to enter relationships outside the restrictions of wedlock, so a dozen concubines resided in the north wing of the palace. Eminent courtesans from all over the land were also statured in the palace for the personal interest of the Maharaja. The Maharani, Charomitra Singh, the royal descendent of the nearby princely state of Benjour was betrothed for a year to the Maharaja and then they finally tied the knot to fasten the coalition.
She gave birth to two Rajkumars of Jodhpur. Rajkumar Arnav Singh later crowned the Maharaja and Rajkumar Vikram Singh.
Page 68
Rajkumar Arnav Singh attained his education from the Cambridge University. As a surmounting student of his badge he was admired for his brains, fineness, beguiling personality, and the embodied handsomeness. Disparate from his father and brother he alleged in the decorum of virtues. After being crowned the Maharaja, Arnav Singh exerted to the best of his abilities in making his land flounce with the winds of justice and the monsoon of harmony even when the British involvement remained intact. He won the confidence of the British parliament with his acumen and admirable propositions, such was his influential aura. His subjects venerated him to the heights of worshiping.
Page 70
A certain vague version of the love-life of Maharaja Arnav Singh falls in our hands. An old time saying goes "Beauty is in the beholder's eye" it is acknowledged that the eye of the Maharaja wedged the beauty of a daughter of a common courtesan, who by some unfathomable marvel happened to be a physician sent to attend the Rajmata Charumitra, in the time of her ailment. Their young, hesitant love bloomed in the alcove of Andalus Palace prompting it to obligate their togetherness in the folios of its history.
Page 72
However among all this, there is another account of the contention and melee grossed between the brothers on the subject of that girl. Rajkumar Vikram Singh, insanely covetous of his elder brother and fostering the detestation for his elder brother since years on end in his heart, infuriated the Maharaja with his crude acts with the girl. The profundity of the impropriety not known, all there is to history is the version of dispute between the brothers. It is said that the Rajkumar ended up frenzied, defined as "non compos mentis". Arnav Singh summoned the best psychiatrists from all around the country but Vikram Singh's stipulation only depreciated.
Page 74
Margining around those interactions, going by the history, the olden times also recount the calamitous state of the Maharaja who almost lost his love to the power of death due to some "undefined" reasons. With the veil of nothingness draped between the girl and the Maharaja, she rested for a long time in the secluded "Pearl Chamber" enveloped in the austerity of comatose. That picky chamber was added in the architecture of th palace by Andalus Singh for his beloved wife.
Page 77
Dead beaten and emaciated by the undertakings of his life the Maharaja ruled the kingdom with the same steadfast indulgence but his countenance and physical emergence screeched with the anguish he was going through. Each night he used to visit his love, spending the swarming and slithering time with her limp immobile body.
Page 79
They say a prayer sent to heavens from the heart has the ability to alter the course of nature. Though originally known to be an atheist, his prayers were heard and the unending spent tears of Arnav Singh that shaped the sea of pain gave birth to the basil of a new beginning. And she roused from her siesta, their love having triumph over the written destiny.
Their love won the hearts of the natives and became a legend, etched upon the hearts and inundated the air of Jodhpur for eternity. Even to date folksongs accounting their love are sung in Jodhpur.
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1972, Andulas Palace
The morning of 1972 fetched with it the tootles of the upcoming festivities. Umaid Bhawan Palace stood out in the plains; the eastern peripheral pigmented with an attractive shade of orangish-yellow hue when the burnished rays of the riding sun walloped the hoisted minarets and domes. The gardens planned according to geometric patterns, arranged in plots of four, known in Persian as charbagh were verdant with the downy carpeted greenery and the flora bloomed to its splendor, the aroma suffusing the celebration-imminent swamped atmosphere of the palace and it's surrounding. A fountain constructed exactly in the center of the garden, facing the foyer of the Andalus palace, gushed with the cascading clear water, the droplets splashing around. Some falling back and some smattering out on the red stone, which guided the pathway till the fortress ingress. The fountain profligately augmented the exquisiteness of the picturesque landscape of the palace. Mounting to three-tier rounded basins, the water surged in three abridging stratum progressively. Small variously shaped pebbles and stones of diverse shades studded along the intricately engraved minutiae and figurines. The sunbeams mirrored back, curbed, making the garrulous water twinkle with golden luster. The lotuses basked around in the trough that commenced from the centric-rounded boundary of the fountain.
The inside of the palace was in a rush of activities. Chambermaids, drudges, and helpers were scurrying hither and thither, accomplishing their assigned tasks. The semblance of harmony and tranquility that usually impregnated the Palace seemed entirely stripped of. The wreaths adorned the balustrade of the staircase in the Royal Court. Garlands dangled from the ceiling. The ceiling circularly descended, shored up with robust mainstays in the perimeter. The exclusively made divisions in the rooftop brought out the curvilinear form and the complexity of the architecture. The conically shaped, ceiling assembled, lotus finials languidly protruded out. The artwork engraved in the ceiling, a melange of royal intricacies with just the suffice sum of embellishments of the conventional art. Furthermore the exquisite Ramyana murals contrasted with the red stone of the building. The canvassing exemplified the connoisseur brilliancy. The multi colored paints enhancing the outlook and the lattice mirrors stamped in the ceiling shone blithely with the sun rays inflowing the court from the wooden glass casements. The flower petals scattered in the cisterns and basins placed all around the room. The yellow flowers stood out in the burgundy room, daffodils-the flower that according to "Le langage des fleurs" signifies new beginning, rebirth and eternal life.
The day marked the tenth birthday of Rajkumar Arnav Singh. Many dignitaries, members of the British Parliament, high profile ranking bureaucrats and prominent chanteuse from "the house of courtesans" were invited for the entertainment of the dignitaries. The horsemen and emissaries were sent with the gilded royal parchments as invitations in advance.
The flurry of activity commenced from the crack of the dawn continued till the sun having risen from the east completed its expedition and set in the western hemisphere. The setting sun emitted the dull orange red beams in the auburn sky shading it purplish orange.
With that the gateway, extremely preoccupied with palace security, permitted the entrance in to the fortified walls of the Palace. The beating of drums at palace gateways announced the coming of visitors to Indian royalty.
The procession of the choir of courtesans led by the elderly guide marched in through the gates. Dressed in the finest of garments and fawning trinkets, they carried the undulating gaits to allure and charm the men-race. The courtesans were usually well-educated and worldly than the upper-class woman and royalties of that time, and often held simultaneous careers as performers or artists.
Amidst the pageant, scurried a little girl attired in lilac and pink colored Lehenga Choli. Face passive and stride tentative, her silver anklets chimed softly with her steps. Warding off some perturbed thoughts she looked up to take in the magnificence of the Andalus Palace.
Knock out of breath, she took in the colossal built of the onion dome, embellished at the top with the lotus finial. Four pillars erected from the base at the corners of the Palace. Doomed and columned kiosk adjacently placed to them with tall decorative spire. The projecting balconies of the left and right wings from the central dome were encircled by alabaster columns placed on pillars made of red sand stone, with a total height of six rows of balconies. Each row of balconies looked dissimilar from the other: The first and last rows were camouflaged by the draping curtains; in the other three balconies, rows were clearly highlighted, the second row had a gilded balustrade with continuous crossed columns, while the other two rows had painted parapets.
The gardens were vast and out stretching. The wish of never leaving the place sprouted in her young heart but wasn't she taught luxury was only a faade, a deceit? Gawking around with big hazel eyes she followed the courtesans and entered the high arched doorway. The interior housed an iconic collection of furnishings, archives and works of art. The petroglyph carved and abraded on the walls and ceilings, frescoed with various colors. The alleyways lit with the oil lamps placed in the stone recesses. The festivities were on full swing, royally dressed men and women were present in the Court, wine being served in carafes and silver goblets. The Maharaja sat on the peacock shaped gigantic thrown, turbaned, wearing jewels and the golden scabbard.
A stage was placed at the center for the procession of the courtesans and so they all sat down .after bowing in the services of the Royalty. The leading singer began the song on the initiative of the baritone. The courtroom flowed with her saccharine flawless voice. Feeling jaded and besieged with the suffocating royal environment, she cunningly slipped away from beneath the eyes of the guards and into the inky night.
Simultaneously the Rajkumar led by two guards and an aide entered the courtroom and the hall buzzed with ovation and greetings. After half an hour Rajkumar Arnav Singh had had enough. His childish patience was so rigorously tested, his body felt over-weighed with the hefty amount of jewels and a gemmed turban, the singing proceedings already rubbing off on his jaded nerves.
He hated the extravagant merrymaking his mother had called for even after his suffusing pleas. According to her a prince didn't turn the handsome age of 10 every year. He decided to have a break and so he excused from his father curtly, with a frown adorning his forehead. The Maharaja caring the least dismissed him with a nod. Dispelling the ever hovering guard and aide he stepped out into the moonlit night.
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