One of the most beautiful and striking things that is noticeable as you enter Rajasthan is the abundance of colours. Since nature provided the state with sand rock and barren landscapes, the resillent people contrast it with various shades of colours. The next two rooms No.233 Keseria Mahal (Saffron Palace) and No 234 Kasumal Mahal (Magentha Palace) reflect the colours of valour and bravery, two very significant attributes of Rajputs. Kesaria turbans were worn at the time of battle and Kasumal was generally at the time of rejoicing.Even now saffron turbans can be seen worn on proud heads. Happily married women too would be prominent in their shades of red, saffron and pink, also Known as shades of the Queen.

It was a common practice for the rurals in India, as well as in other countries to have more than one wife. This was generally to maintain peace and friendly relationship in the aera through marriage alliances. This system was agreeable all around, untill the time of naming the next heir to the throne. It was usualy then that jealousy raised its ugly head.

Rawat Jaswant Singh ji had two wives, who were expecting at the same time. The younger wife was obviously the favorite, and the amazing fore sight she choose her apartments next to that of the Rawat. As fortune would have it, Both wives were blassed with sons, on the same day, with the elder wife delivering earlier. But since the yonger wife had her room closer, it was her child that Jaswant Singh ji heir first, and so Ragho Das ji ( the younger wife's son) was proclaimed the heir apparent, while Gopal Dasji (the elder son) was adopted to Karera. Room No. 235, 236 and 237 have been named after Rawat Jaswant Singh ji and his wives.

Jaswant Singh ji had two sons, from two separate wives, Ragho Das ji (the elder, who ascended the Deogarh throne) and Gopal Das ji who was given the territory of Karera to preside over. Room 248 is dedicated to him. Gopal Das ji was very close to the Jaipur palace as his sister, Kundan Kumari, was married to Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh of Jaipur, and was given the title of Raja Bahadur by the Maharaja.
Gopal Das ji was a cultured and skilful craftsman. There are paintings of him playing the tamboura (string instrument) in a prayer, and also some showing him at work using his personal collection of wood and metal working tools. His interests and hobbies would have made him a rather unusual (and respected) patron of the arts in his circle.

Another Rajput passion was shikar as it was a way to be prepared for battle at all times. The Machan (Room no. 238) is decorated like a tent in dedication to those days when hunting was done in an honorable manner, with a complete sense of understanding of preservation of wildlife. It is an oft related story that the Raja's and the rulers killed indiscriminately, but that is myth as at the time of independence/handing over of power from the Raja's to the people's Govt, there were 44,000 tigers in the country which later dwindled to a mere 2000. Now with efforts at conservation, the figures are up again at 4000 tigers, when last surveyed. Each Rular would protect the wildlife in his own aera and prevent poaching. The Ruler too would only shoot male tigers above a certain age and never kill females or cubs and young ones. None of the nobles under a ruler were allowed to shoot without permission of the over lord. There were rules for conservation of the flora also. In the room there are the photographs of these shikar days.

Room 239, 240, 241, 242 and 244 are called the temple wings as the rooms are situated around the Shrinath ji (Lord Krishna) temple. Individually they have all been named in connection with the Lord. Udhav Kuteer (Room 239) has been named after Lord Krishna's very close friend Udhav, who consold the Gopis (village belles) as they were full of remorse after Krishna left for Mathura, to secure peace in the region from the evil rular Kans. Radhika Raman (Room 240) has been named after Lord Krishna's favorite consort Ridhika, and as the name suggest he was totally enchanted by her. One hopes the magic of enchantment lingers on for the couples occupying this pretty suite. She helped Lord Krishna rule the kingdom of Dwaraka with great gentleness, and the wall frescoes pay tribute to the beautiful friendship that they shared.

NOTE ON SHRINATH JI

The story of Shrinath ji starts in the early 16'' century A.D. with the advent of Ballabhacharya, a Vaishnav Brahman of Andhra. Legend has it that he was guided by divine inspriation to the spot where the present swroop of Shrinathji lay on Mt. Goverdhan in Braj. Ballabhacharya had two sons, and it was the younger son Vittaleshwar who further codified the seva pooja (method of worship) of Shrinathji. The swroop of Shrinath ji shows Lord Krishna as a young boy of seven years. To the devotee he is a living devine child, who does not reside in a temple, but infact in a beautiful haveli with trappings of royalty. There are eight darshans of the lord, where devotees can offers prayers.

Flowers and jewels adorn the lord. Behind him hangs the pichwai, a beautiful back curtain which changes according to time and season. The famous large diamond sparkling in Shrinath ji's chin is said to be offered by Emperor Akbar, and a such grants were continued by Jahangir and Shah Jahan. But with the advent of Aurangzeb's reign and growing intolerance towards Hinduism, the decision for Shrinath ji to leave Brij aera was taken. The Lords entourage left Braj quietly on 18 September 1670 A.D. southwards to Rajasthan. But there was no sureity of the safety desired. The entourage seeked sanctuary under Maharaja Raj Singh ji of Mewar. However as the chariot carrying Shrinath ji passed enroute to Udaipur, it got stuck at a place where now stands Nathdwara. All efforts to dislodge it were unsuccessful, and seeing this as the Lords wish, it was taken to be the final abode of Shrinath ji. A haveli was soon built at the spot and the image was installed on 10 February 1672 A D. In time a village grew around this holy spot which came to be known as 'Nathdwara'- the gateway to the Lord. Nathdwara is 80 km from Deogarh en route to Udaipur. The swroops have been enshrined at various centres. Mathureshji at Kota, Vittalnathji at Nathdwara, Dwarkadhishji at Kankroli, Gokulnathji at Gokul, Gokalchandramaji at Kaman, Balkrishnaji at Surat, and Madanmohanji at Kaman also.

Room No 241 has been named after the village of Barsana, the birthplace of Radhika, near Brindawan across the river Yamuna where Shri Krishna grew up. This room has an interesting floor with designs of glass bangles. One of the doors leads to a private balcony over-looking the swimming pool. Another door leads down to the remaining rooms of the temple wing. #242 Parikrama is a part of the original corridor encircling the temple. ''Parikrama' is the custom of going around the deity in order to gain strength and blessings from the residing deity. Shriji Gokhra (No. 244) is the room facing the temple. The covered balcony (gokhra) is aptly named as from here one can get a direct darshan (viewing) to the temple and seek the Lords blessings. This was the original guest room used for noble men and Thakurs under Deogarh Rule.

Room No. 243 Madho Mahal has been named after its original occupant Shri Madho ji the valiant son of the Rawat Gokul Das ji I (1641-1659). Many of the Deogarh Rawats had lost their lives fighting the fearful tribals who caused consistent unrest in Deogarh. Shri Madho ji vowed to avenge the family by killing atleast one of the tribesmen daily Madho ji thus helped to bring peace in Deogarh by ridding the area of troublesome elements, and even brought he revenue up to 9 Lakh rupees (0.9 million), a sizeable sum at the time.

The story goes that one day Madho ji was about to take a man's life when a lady went up to him, pleading for that mans life to be spared as he would be her 7 husband that Madhoji would be beheading. The ever-forgiving Madhoji had a red cloth tied to the mans shoulder so that he would be able to identify the man and spare his life, in the future Thereafter anyone with a red cloth patch tied to his shoulder or her saree would be spared and treated kindly as this became a mark of acceptance of Deogarh rule.

Madhoji was a man of honour, and honour was more important then family. As Madhoji was not sure if his sons would be able to his name, he decided not to have issues at all. He took the advice of the pundits, who recommended that should he have a shiv ling (symbol of Shiva) removed from one place to another he would be spared the pain of having irresponsible sons, and have no children at all. Madho ji had a shiv ling from Bassi removed to a place just below the fort, near the present bus stand. There he built a beautiful temple and Baori (step well). The legend goes that if any one with skin desease has a bath in this Baori, miraculously gets cured.

Mythology wing

Indian culture is a melting pot full of traditions, history and mythology. It is through this amazing universe of myths and legends and historical facts that we base our beliefs. And it is to our painters and historians that we must give credit, for without their impreom and below the dining area Chitrashala, (art gallery) are dedicated to the artists who helped keep our culture alive, through their art.
One of India’s greatest painters is Raja Ravi Verma. He is well known for the beauty of form and vivid colours that are expressed in each painting. He was born on April 29, 1848 at Killimanoor, Kerala.His uncle Raja Raja Verma recognized the talent in his nephew, and helped him with elementary lessons. Ravi Verma was then sent to Mysore and Baroda to help him sharpen his skills. He owed his success to a systematic training in Thanjavoor and European art. Raja Ravi Verma breathed his last on 2nd October 1906. His theatrical compositions based on myths and legends in the Mythology Wing are alluring.

Ganesh Gokra, (249) has beautifully carved stone arches of the Mughal era. The room has an idol of Ganesh, the most benevolent and easiest to please of all Indian Gods.

According to the Shiva Purana, Ganesh was created by Parvati, Lord Shiva’s wife, to stand guard and make sure no one disturbed her during her bath. No one. So when Lord Shiva returned home and went in search of his wife, he found a young boy barring his way. This annoyed him and without a second thought Shiva cut the boys head off. When Parvati realized what had happened she was furious and refused to listen to her husband’s apologies, and would only forgive him if he brought her son back to life. To avoid his woman’s wrath Shiva found a young elephant with one tusk and placed his head on that of the boy’s, and named him Ganesha.

The next two rooms are twin rooms with a deck area, over looking the garage and badminton court. Both rooms also have Mughal arches with dainty carvings. These arches are so delicate that one wonders how they were created without impairment. These rooms are furnished in true Rajput colours of saffron and red. The sitting area in Nala Damayanti (250) has Raja Ravi Verma's beautiful painting of Goddess Saraswati, who is the Hindu goddess of speech, and represents the union of power and intelligence from which organized creation arises. Saraswati possesses all the learning of the Vedas, scriptures, dances, music and poetry. Her origin is the lost river Saraswati. This is the source of her profound connection to fluidity in any aspect (water, speech, art, though). She is wisdom, fortune, splendour and devotion. The river flowed in the 3rd and 4th Millennium BC, from the Gulf of Khambat (Lothal) right through the Marusthali desert (one of the largest deserts in the world), up to Mathura. An extensive civilization lived along its banks. Although considered part of the Indus Valley Civilization, they did have different customs. All the sacrifices and worship practices were primarily done on the banks of this river, and is known as the “mother of all rivers”. The drying up of River Saraswati in many ways was the turning point and is noted in the Upanishads. The mythological story states that the Gods wanted “fire” to be transported to the sea, and they requested River Saraswati to do this task. To do this the river had to gather all her waters and hence the land was left dry. In this event, Saraswati was enhanced from a sacred river, to a Goddess.
Most of Raja Ravi Verma’s works depict scenes of Ramayana and of Mahabharata, the longest epic of the world, which has about 100,000 verses. Most of his paintings are centered on the five brothers (Pandavas) and their wife Draupadi. The Pandavas were living in the forest for 12 years, banished from their kingdom by their cousins, and during those years they protected Rishis (holy sages) from evil spirits that would have ruined their prayers and rituals. In return, the sages would educate the Pandavas with their spiritual knowledge and stories. One such story is that of Nala Damayanti and Raja Ravi Verma has captured it beautifully. Nala was one of the sathchakravartias (seven great emperors) in Hindu mythology. He was king of Nishadh kingdom. Nala was chosen by the most lovely Damayanti as her husband in the ‘swayamvar” (the bride chooses her own husband from amongst the invitees present) in preference to even the Gods who had come to marry her. The King of Swans was instrumental in their alliance. Everyone was happy with the choice and blessed the couple except Kali, (the evil one) who vowed to take revenge by diverting Nala from the path of righteousness and thus separating the couple. However such was the purity of Nala that it took Kali 7 years to find a single fault in him, and bring him under the influence of gambling, in which Nala lost all his wealth and kingdom. But by remaining on the righteous path he managed to regain his kingdom. Nala and Damayanti were reunited and lived happily thereafter.

In the same room is an alluring painting of Arjun (the 3rd Pandava brother) and his beloved Subhadra (Lord Krishna’s sister), before their marriage. The two had fallen in love although Subhadra was to be engaged to another king, and her eldest brother (Balram), who was a stickler for rules, would never hear of it, even though the rest of her family was joyous. So one day, when Balram had gone for his full day prayer, a plot was hatched, and with Krishna’s blessings the two of them decided to elope. However, it was the bride who drove the chariot away and not the groom, to avoid later complications of whether Subhadra had consented or was taken against her will, in which case a battle would have had to commence. When Balram returned, and found his little sister missing, he was livid with Arjun, but on learning that it was his sister who had driven away the chariot, he had to relent.

The second of the twin rooms Krishna Kunj (251), is bathed in saffron and gold. Its stone arches are also delicate and refined. The bathrooms in both these rooms are luxurious in size and fittings.

The sitting room boasts of two beautiful paintings on Shri Krishna’s life, and one on a compelling love story. The large painting of Kans and Maya (divine Jogmaya), is based around Krishna’s birth. According to Krishna Purana, Kans was an evil king of Mathura who had overthrown his father and imprisoned him. His atrocities drove the Lord Vishnu to incarnate for the 8th time as Krishna. Kans’s dearest cousin was married to Vasudeva, his friend. However an oracle foretold Kans that Devaki’s 8th child would be responsible for his death. An enraged Kans had them locked in prison and killed each child that Devaki bore. He had killed 6 of them at their birth by smashing them on the prison stone walls, but the 7th child was transferred to Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva, leading Kans to believe that Devaki had had a miscarriage. At midnight on the birth of the 8th child, the guards fell asleep and the prison doors automatically opened. Vasudeva, as instructed by a heavenly voice, took his new born son and replaced him in the crib of his sister’s newborn daughter. As soon as he returned to the prison with the baby girl, the guards woke up and the locks bolted. The sound of a baby brought Kans to the prison, and as he was about to smash the little girl, she, Maya, rose towards the sky, and warned Kans that the one responsible for his death was alive and safe. Thus saying, she flew to heaven.

Krishna grew up safe, killed his evil uncle and restored the throne to his grandfather. During his childhood Krishna was the darling of the village. He endeared himself to all the elders and especially to the young maidens. Madhav (Krishna) had everyone swooning and dancing to his enrapturing flute melodies. Madhav is available in any manner or form to his devotees. Many gopis (maidens), wanted to be his beloved, but it is the divine love of Radha – Madhav, (depicted in the smaller painting), that many songs and hymns have their derivation.
The painting of a lovely lady sitting in the forest and writing a letter to her husband is that of Shakuntala, the daughter of sage Vishwamitra and the celestial maiden Menaka, who was sent by the lord of heaven to enchant the sage and break his tapa (prayer). Once her work was done Menaka returned to heaven and left the sage with their daughter Shakuntala. But he had to return to his prayers and so Shakuntala was brought up by Karva, the head of the ashram in the forest. She was well looked after well educated. Shakuntala grew into an exquisite beauty and had plenty of forest friends.

One day King Dushyant was riding through the forest when he happened to chance upon a beautiful girl playing with deer and birds. He instantly fell in love with Shakuntala. Soon they were secretly married with only Shakuntala’s few close friends as witnesses. The king had to leave soon after as there were matters needing his attention, but he promised to call for Shakuntala as soon as he reached his palace and left his ring as a token of remembrance. However the king got caught up in various affairs and days turned to months. One day while Shakuntala was dreaming of her husband, a sage came to ask for alms, but she was so deep in her thoughts that she did not hear the sage. The enraged sage cursed Shakuntala that whoever she was remembering would never remember her. However, when the sage heard her story, he relented, and amended his curse, saying that if she showed the ring to her husband, he would remember her. Shakuntala decided to go to the palace, with Karva and her friends. She started to get ready her journey, but while washing in the river her ring slipped off without her knowledge, and when they arrived at the palace she found her husband had forgotten her completely, and she had no ring to remind him with. A heart broken Shakuntala returned to the forest and their child. He was named Bharat, and grew up to be a handsome boy with skills in archery, reading, riding etc.

Meanwhile king Dushyant was pining for something that even he could not understand. He attended to the workings in the kingdom but was always missing something. One day a fisherman caught a huge fish, and amazed at its size, decided it would only be fit for a king. So he gave it to the palace cook, who started carving it immediately. To his surprise he saw the king’s ring in the stomach of the fish, and knowing he would be well rewarded he rushed to show him. On seeing his ring, the king recalled every detail of his days at the forest, and of his dearest wife Shakuntala, and lost no more time in bringing his beloved, and their son Bharat, home. Their son grew up to be a strong and intelligent man, and India is also called Bharat in honour of him.

Many of the paintings depict scenes from the life of the five Pandav brothers. And in the bed room, there is an exceptionally beautiful one. After losing a game of dice, to their cousins, the Pandavas were banished to the forest for 12 years. When the 12 years were completed, one year of incognito exile had to be spent. The brothers and their wife Draupadi, decided to spend the last year at the court of king Virata, the king of Matsya. Each brother disguised himself as a staff in the palace. One was a counsellor, the others a cook, a dance teacher, a horse in charge and lastly a cowherd. Draupadi became the Queen’s maid and changed her name to Sairandhri. Ten months passed without any problems, till one day, the Queen’s evil and perpetually drunk brother, Kichak, fell in love with Sairandhri. She, naturally, was least interested, and repelled by his advances. But when matters got out of hand, she went to complain to her strongest husband, Bhim, who advised her to set up a meeting at midnight. Bhim lay in wait for the scoundrel to appear and killed him by crushing him with his arms. Sairandhri was saved, but the news of Kichaks death reached the evil cousins, who immediately realized that such strength could only belong to Bhim. The final year of incognito would have been a failure, but with some cunning strategy they managed to last out the remaining months, but that’s another story!

In the next room, Nagaarkhana (252), there are some more stone arches belonging to the Mughal era, ingeniously designed to frame the dressing room mirrors. It is in this room that the drums of festivities and also battle would be stored. They would then be taken to the top terrace, (253) and sounded out for the whole village to hear. Nagaarkhana has a charming painting of the radiant Goddess Ganga standing in her waters, with her son Devrath, arguably the back bone behind the epic Mahabharata. As legend goes, one day king Shantanu, the ruler of Hastinapur, felt thirsty while hunting. As he stopped to drink at the river, he chanced upon a beautiful damsel. She was so radiant that he decided he had to marry her. The maiden agreed but with one request, that no matter what she did he would never question her motives. Shantanu could not imagine this maiden attempting anything ghastly and hence agreed to her demands. However, every year his bride bore him a child, and then she would go to the same river and drown them. The mortified king dared not show his grief or complain least he loose his otherwise most perfect soul mate. But when his 8th child, a son, was being taken to the river he could no longer stay quiet and complained to his wife about her horrifying cruelty, and pleaded that she gave him his son back. His wife turned and tearfully smiled at the king. She explained that she was indeed the Goddess Ganga, the river, and she was actually sending the children to salvation (moksh).However, now that the king had broken his promise, she would have to leave him and bring up their son (Devrath) in the forest. And he did grow up to be a most pious, brave and respected person.

Chitrashala Wing or the Artists’ Wing

The miniature paintings of Deogarh are a highly distinctive art form. Many chiefs employed a painter to decorate walls, make illustrations for religious texts and to record the personalities and events of court life. Politically as well as in their artistic interests, the Deogarh rulers maintained considerable independence for themselves. In the 1760`s when Rawat Jaswant Singhji (1734-1776) developed a sustained interest in paintings, he hired the artist Bagta ,whose earlier works had been made for the Udaipur Maharana Just as the political world of Deogarh was defined by events at the Maharanas court, its cultural character too was determined by the standards set at Udaipur. In the mid-eighteenth century, paintings at the capital were working within well-organized studios with imposing traditions of style and workmanship for the Mewar rulers had a long history of artistic patronage. But the most interesting and original workmanship often appeared in outlying areas where artists and patrons were less inhibited by expectations or by long established traditions . This is particularly true of Deogarh. It has been noted that 1769 was not a good year for the Maharana of Udaipur with his defeat at Ksipra by the rebellious Chundawat nobles and the subsequent six month siege of Udaipur by the Marathas. It was probably at this time that Bagta effected a change of patron .
The four most prominent artists at Deogarh have been brilliantly documented in Rawat NaharSinghji 11 book on the Deogarh school of paintings. The Chitrashala wing has a room dedicated to each of these artists: Bagta, his two sons Chokha and Kavala and Chohka's son Baijnath. Copies of their works adorn the walls and given below are excerpts from the book on these painters who flourished under the Deogarh Rawats’ patronage at the time.

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