Day 8 - Gwalior

At 12:00 AM, our train got rescheduled to 2:30 AM. It was the last straw. We decided to chuck it and catch another one. Getting new tickets took some time, thanks to the scuffle at the counter between the people who were in the queue and those who believed that queues were destined for some other planet. Thankfully, the former won.

Malwa Express pulled in at 12:15. The ticket examiner allowed us in.

"The full charge for the sleeper is Rs. 280. You have already paid Rs. 97. Do you want pay the rest or leave it at this?" he asked, to my utter surprise.

"What ever you say, sir" I stuttered.

"OK. Leave it then. Just pay 100 more." He continued.

That 100 went into his pocket. At 2:00 AM, we reached Gwalior.

Gwalior is a small and sleepy town, caught in the headlights of the road and rail traffic to Delhi. It is still under the patronage of the Scindias, the erstwhile rulers of the state. The massive fort, referred to by Babur as the "Pearl amongst the fortresses of India", towers up in the middle of the city. Thanks to the patronage of the ex-minister, Madhavrao Scindia, Gwalior has seen much affluence.

The room at the newly opened Hotel Surya was quite impressive, with ceiling mounted lights and a wall mounted flat-screen television to add to the ambience. It looked like a high-end wanna-be, if you could ignore the view from the open multi-paned window. The lift played a queer piece of classical music.

On the way to the fort, we passed what was perhaps the longest railway gate in India. The narrow gauge line that skirts the base of the fort runs on the road, before veering away. Hence, the two gates are spaced at some 500-odd meters distance. Thankfully, there were no trains.

Urvai Gate had a deserted and scary look, as if we were in a forest away from town. A watchman sat to collect a nominal 50 paise entry fee (the board said 20 paise, but since 20 paise doesn't exist anymore, he's forgiven). The customary guide was loitering around. A jeep stood nearby offering to drive us up. The road wound up between the two massive rock faces, as if this were a mountain range. Figurines of the 21 tirthankaras were sculptured into the rock faces with the last one being 10 feet tall. Most of them had been defaced by the marauding hordes of Babur. Peacocks were strutting aplenty along the ridges on the rock.

We came out in front of the Scindia Junior School. Situated inside the fort, the Scindia School remains one of the most privileged schools in the country, catering to children of the royalty, the filthy rich and whoever else can mange to get in. Ahead was the Man Singh Palace. The small cafeteria by its side had nothing to offer us so early in the morning except a couple of patties. It was the umpteenth morning where biscuits had contributed to our breakfast.

The palace was beautiful. Decorated exquisitely with blue paintings, a strange and amusing frieze of yellow ducks adorns its walls. The carvings inside the fort are magnificent. For the first time, we were forced to employ the services of a guide, since two floors of the palace are situated underground and required torches to navigate. The place has a unique "telephone" system with pipes to communicate between the subterranean chambers and the upper floors. The underground chambers housed an indoor swimming pool and the torture chamber where Aurangazeb imprisoned his brother Murad, poisoned him with opium driving him mad, before finishing him off for good.

The rest of the fort is sadly in ruins, including the Karan Mahal, the Jahangiri Mahal and the Jauhar Kund. They are used by courting couples (who climb the crumbling ruins ignoring the danger of collapse), shepherds and playful children. The Sikh gentleman was happy to get his photo taken. Highly impressed, he requested us to take photos of the rest of his group. The Sardarni however didn't sound so happy at the opportunity. Decked up fully in the traditional Sikh attire (complete with the Kirpan), they made quite a picture. They were there for Kar Seva at the Gurudwara of Guru Har Gobind Singh, who had been imprisoned in the palace by Nur Jehan.

Descent through the Gwalior Gate exposes you to the colossal walls of the palace. It reminded me of the massive walls of Meherangarh. The stone-paved walkway leads to a crowded street. Further up, to the right, stands the beautiful tomb of Mohammed Ghaus. However, the main attraction of the complex is the small tomb that lies next to it: the tomb of the renowned musician, Tansen - Gwalior's most famous son, and one of the Navratnas of Akbar's court. A tamarind tree used to stand next to it, chewing the leaves of which supposedly improves the voice of any aspiring singer. Sadly it had withered under the onslaught of musicians who come for the annual Tansen Mahotsav. Oblivious to this, people were seen eating the leaves of all the trees growing around the tomb. The place was full of engineering students preparing for exams. A couple of them were subjected to career counselling from SS.

Right next to the hotel stood the immensely beautiful Jai Vilas Palace, the abode of the Scindias. A white arch leads to the garden enclosed by the massive white palace. In front of the facade stands a blue fountain. "Looks as impressive as Vienna!" I murmured to SS. An employee at the palace overheard us . "You've been to Vienna? Do you see any similarity?" he asked. "The architecture looks European," we said. "What about the gardens?" he quipped. "Yes, they too look impressive", we continued. "It is a blend of three styles of architecture," he proffered.

The interiors were exquisite. The first rooms house the portraits of the royal family. It also contains the hunting prizes of the Maharajas - heads and skins of various animals - much to the chagrin of a lady who voiced out her disapproval of killing animals. Most impressive was the long room dedicated to the life and career of Madhavrao Scindia, the enigmatic leader of the Congress Party.

Moving ahead, you get a glimpse of the royal lifestyle of the Scindias in the well-preserved rooms of the palace. Office rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, dressing rooms, music rooms, prayer rooms and recreation rooms are all maintained in their full splendor like any palace in the world. Across the wing in the dining room, the famous silver sweetmeat train runs around the long dinner table. We were just in time to see it in operation. Above the dining hall is the famed golden banquet hall, where celebrities are frequently entertained. Two massive chandeliers - supposedly the heaviest in Asia - hung from the ceiling. To ascertain whether the roof would take their weight, eight elephants had been hung from the ceiling. A single piece carpet covers the floor - allegedly woven over years by prisoners from the fort.

On the walls and the gates is visible the royal insignia - the sun flanked by two cobras. According to SS, the symbol was adopted by the first member of the family, having been shielded by the hood of a King Cobra when he was a baby - considered an omen of royalty in India. It however has not convinced me to overcome my fear of cobras.

Pic of the day :