The Jai Vilas Palace about which I had written in this post houses the Jivaji Rao Scindia Museum that was established in 1964 and is said to be managed by a trust.
The Museum is known for its vast collection of treasures that gives an indication of the lifestyle of the Scindias. There is a lot of paraphernalia of the Scindia dynasty that can be found there.
Visitors get fascinated about a silver train with cut glass wagon that is known to be serving guests as it chugs along on the table on a miniature railway line. I would have been too, but only if I had seen it in action, so I'll wait patiently till I get an invitation from Jyotiraditya Scindia!
There was a room (or two) of jungle scenery with stuffed tigers. That sight, and that of the hunting trophies, was something that I did not enjoy.
There are cut glass ornaments, art works, coins, bronze sculptures, woodworks, ivory works, carpets and rugs, musical instruments and a large number of stuff belonging to the Scindia kinsfolk and their portraits too.
There are many items of gifts received from VIPs around the world, whether it was during the trips of Scindias abroad or during the visit of dignitaries to the Jai Vilas Palace. Also on display are personal mementos of past members.
The Museum has two huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling supposedly weighing 3.5 tons each! An enthusiastic guard nearby (who volunteered to be a temporary guide) narrated to me how seven elephants were made to march non-stop for seven days on the roof of the Palace to test its strength before those heavy chandeliers were made to hang freely from the ceiling.
There are other trophies and a lot of weapons displayed including swords said to be used by Aurangzeb and Shah Jahan.
Travellers who are interested in exploring the opulence of the princely state can visit the Scindia Museum. I had just a quick look around and was eager to move on to my next destination.
The Jai Vilas Palace is the residence of the Scindia family. The Scindia family ruled Gwalior until India’s independence from the British in 1947, when Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia acceded to the Government of India.
Gwalior was merged with a number of other princely states to become the new Madhya Bharat state (Malwa Union). Jivaji Rao Scindia served as the state's rajpramukh, or appointed governor, from 1948 to 1956, when Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh.
The white 19th-century Jai Vilas Palace is built along the Tuscan and Corinthian architectural style.
The Palace rooms are reminiscent of a majestic lifestyle of the Scindias. Furnishings in gilt, heavy draperies and tapestries, fine Persian rugs, antique furniture etc are featured in the Palace.
A part of the Palace has been turned into the Jivaji Rao Scindia Museum. I shall post some pictures of the Museum in my next post.
As I was on my way to see the Jai Vilas Palace, I was taken aback when an elderly woman walking on the footpath a few metres away from me suddenly fell down unconscious!
There was a young lad of about ten years with her. Since I was the closest to them at that time, I was among the first few to run to her rescue and together with another person who appeared there the next instant, moved her aside to a safer place away from the roadside traffic.
In no time a crowd collected and there was traffic disruption. Then someone pulled out a water bottle and an attempt was made to revive the woman. The locals questioned the little boy and what I gathered then was that the woman had come from another city by train to visit relatives in Gwalior and their bag was stolen! In that stolen bag was her money and the address of her relatives.
The woman regained consciousness in a little while. At this time, a girl who appeared to have leadership qualities happened to reach there, came forward and she seemed to want to take charge. At first I thought she was a journalist. Then I asked her if she was a local and when she answered in the affirmative, I quickly briefed her on what happened, and told her I had to move on as I was a tourist there.
I had only that evening to check out the Italian Garden and the Jai Vilas Palace in addition to attending the ‘sound and light show’ as I wrote about it here. I then rushed from that place but not before discreetly shoving a couple of notes in the hands of the young lad. I think of them sometimes and hope that they succeeded in finding their relatives in Gwalior.
The main gate had emblems of the sun and the pillars on each side had the sign of the swastika designed on the purnakumbha.
In Hinduism, purnakumbha is an object symbolizing God and is regularly used during different religious rites. It is an earthern pot filled with water, representing the divine essence, with fresh leaves of the mango tree and a coconut placed on the top. In addition to Om (Aum) and the swastika, purnakumbha is another important symbol in Hinduism.
There is a neatly kept garden within the landscape around the temple.
The sacred Sun Temple attracts tourists and locals alike, who flock to catch a glimpse of the same. Even though it is not very old, it is one of the most venerated shrines of the ancient city of Gwalior.
I conversed with a couple who had come to the Sun Temple to seek blessings. The girl had a typical Indian look about her draped in a colourful saree, head partially covered, wearing a mangalsutra around her neck and bindi on her forehead. I was given permission to photograph them.
The elegant Sun Temple is a newly constructed temple dedicated to Sun God. It's architecture has been inspired by the famous Sun Temple at Konark in Orissa. Photography of the deity inside was not allowed.
Ghaus was a saint of Afghan origin and was the guru (spiritual master) of Akbar and Tansen. The art of his tomb is presumed to be an example of Mughal architecture in its infancy. 
Square in construction, there are four burj (towers) on four sides and the structure is surrounded by beautiful jaali (lattice) with a big dome on top that was supposedly decorated once with shining blue stones.
Akbar, being a great patron of arts and music, encouraged it so much that what is now known as Hindustani classical music flourished under his patronage. Tansen, of course, was leading a grand array of accomplished musicians. Would you like to have another look at the picture of Anup Talao (also called the Peerless pool) in my post here (4th picture) where Tansen was known to be seated on the beautiful platform of square red sand stone enclosed by railing with lovely jaali work. Abul Fazl in Akbarnama recorded that this pool used to be filled with gold, copper and silver coins that shimmered in the sunlight. Jehangir has mentioned in his memoirs that he arranged distribution of coins in charity worth one crore three lakh rupees that were emptied out of that pool.
In Indian culture, Tansen continues to remain an enigmatic legend as the most melodious singer and instrumentalist. Almost all gharanas of Hindustani classical music claim some connection with the Tansen lineage.
The garden in which the tomb is located is the locale for the annual music festival called Tansen Samaroh that is held during December each year where notable musicians from across the world and India gather to perform during the festival. That festival got over a day before I reached Gwalior!
In addition to Gurdwara Data Bandi Chhod and Man Mandir Palace, the other structures at the Gwalior Fort are:
Near Man Mandir Palace
I went about exploring the the Gujari Mahal, the Vikram Mahal, Karan Mahal and the Shah Jahan Mahal.
Karan Mahal - rear view
The story goes that after Raja Mansingh Tomar wooed and won her, Mrignayani expected of him to build for her a separate palace with a constant water supply from the River Rai. So, the 15th century Gujari Mahal was built in her honor. The exterior of the Palace is well maintained and the interior has been converted into an archeological museum, housing a large collecting of Hindu and Jain sculptures, some said to be dating back to the 1st and 2nd century. Photography is not allowed here.
I meant to return to the rest of the structures after lunch and that meant descending down the Fort complex to the city below. Once there, however, I got so busy exploring other interesting spots that there was no chance to get back to the Fort till the evening. By the time I returned, it was almost dark and I had a quick look at the Saas Bahu Ka Mandir, a traditional temple of two sizes of temples; and Teli Ka Mandir, built with a unique blend of Dravidian style of architecture (roof part) as well as the Indo-Aryan characteristics of northern India (the walls).
Then I proceeded for the Sound and Light Show and as I wrote in my previous post, it was delightful. Two shows take place every evening, in Hindi and English. At the Son-et-Lumiere Show, Amitabh Bachchan eloquently narrates the story of the Gwalior Fort with his deep baritone voice. It was very interesting to experience history at the Show that included:
- the story of Suraj Sen, the Rajput chieftain and Gwalipa, whose story is narrated here;
- the romantic story of Raja Man Singh and Mrignayani;
- the Turkish invasion and the tragic defeat of the Rajputs;
- sieges by Mehmood Ghazni and other Muslim kings;
- the sad sounds of Jauhar (different practice from Sati) of the Rajput women, a practice of collective suicide of a community facing certain defeat in war;
- the sound of the Rajput menfolk who ride out to their last battles till death in what is called Saka;
- the subsequent battles of victory and sounds of reconquering of a lost treasure by the resilient Rajputs;
- the glorious era that followed.
At the Show, Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Jasraj and Kumar Gandharva's efforts can be enjoyed that substantiates the grandeur of traditional music as sung by the erstwhile Baiju Bawra and Tansen (more on Tansen in my subsequent posts). Superb colours kept illuminating every nook and cranny of the beautiful Man Mandir Palace and other structures around. The sound of the whole Show creates a realistic effect so well that at the end of it, I felt steeped in the history of the place.
With this post, I bid goodbye to this spot in Central India where history, religion, music, and architecture have been beautifully forged to form a glorious Fort, the Gwalior Fort.
Man Mandir Palace
The main reason for my stopover at Gwalior was to check out the Gwalior Fort and Man Mandir Palace in particular. Approximately 110 kms away from Agra, the Fort seems to be situated right at the very edge of the steep cliff of Lashkar, at a height of 300 feet above the sprawling city below. It occupies the whole of the top surface of a rocky massif. It is 3 kms long from the North to the South, and 600 to 3,000 feet broad from east to west. There are two routes to climb this Fort. I ascended from the eastern side which I believe is called the Gwalior Gate (also known as Alamgir Darwaza). Alamgir Darwaza was constructed in 1660 by the then Governor of the Fort, Motimid Khan during the regime of Aurangzeb.
The foundations of the Fort were laid some 1000 years ago, although there are other structures and temples within its walls that are traced back to 425 AD.
One of the most attractive monuments of the Gwalior Fort is the Man Mandir Palace, named after the great Tomar King, Raja Man Singh and is supposedly built in the 15th century, between 1486 and 1517. In the five hundred years since then, the Gwalior Fort has been the scene of some of the significant events in the history of the region. The fort has changed hands many times, first held by the Tomars and subsequently by the Mughals, the Marathas and the British, who finally handed it over to the Scindias.
The Man Mandir has four levels, two of them underground. There are chambers for affairs of state as well as those for relaxation, decorated ornately with beautiful paintings, glazed tiles of varied colours, different figures of human beings, carved animals and flowers. One can see vast chambers with fine stone screens and lattice works (jaalis) which served as halls for music and dance. The walls of these halls were decorated with triangular friezes. It is believed that each time a candle was lit, those mirrors would reflect light that would give an impression of hundreds of candles burning giving a festive ambience to the place. The walls, now stripped of their former glory, are a mute testimony to the passing of the centuries.
There are Jhulagar, Kesar Kunda, and Phansi Ghar below this storey. In the dungeons below prisoners were kept. Aurangzeb had his brother Murad imprisoned here and later executed.
This imposing structure is so magnificent that it inspired the Mughal Emperor Babar to describe it as “the pearl amongst the fortresses of Hind.” I’ve used Babur’s words as the title for my post here.
I must emphasize that among the buildings within the Fort, the major attraction for me has been the Man Mandir Palace probably because I had always been fascinated about the story of Raja Man Singh and his queen, the courageous Gujari village girl, Mriganayani, whose romance with the King had been forged on her singing. More on this when I shall write on other structures of the Gwalior Fort and about Tansen in future posts.
Upon reaching there, I had one look at the beautiful palace, Man Mandir, decorated with splendid blue frieze tiles and felt transported to an era of intrigue, chivalry and valour. I found the Palace is a fine edifice of Hindu architecture with a Mughal touch to it. Seeing the fine use of colour, motif and design in it gave me an immense sense of joy. My visit to Man Mandir Palace made yet another one of my travel dreams come true.
More pictures of the Man Mandir Palace can be found here.
The Gurudwara is grand and huge. It is constructed fully of marble and the kalashes at the top are made of gold. 
