Gondal: Gujarat Part 10

Gujarat: The What, Where, When and Who

India

Gujarat

This post covers day 10 of a 14-day journey around Gujarat, following our circuit of Rajasthan last year. Smaller than Rajasthan, Gujarat is about the size of the Island of Great Britain and has much the same population.

5,000 years ago, Gujarat was a centre of the Indus Valley civilization and subsequently played its part in most of the major north Indian empires. When Islamic invaders reached northern India in the 9th century Gujarat held out until 1300 when it became part of the Delhi Sultanate.

This post is about a day spent in Gondal in the Gujarati district of Rajkot

An independent Muslim sultan seized power in 1391and Gujarat maintained its independence until becoming part of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century and later the British Empire, though local rulers of a patchwork of Princely States retained considerable autonomy. At independence in 1947 Gujarat was part of the State of Bombay, becoming a state in its own right in 1960.

With a long coast line facing the Arabian sea, Gujaratis have been seafarers and international traders for millennia.

Gujarat is the home state of both Mahatma Gandhi and the current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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The Princely State of Gondal

07-Mar-2019

Arriving from Junagadh we checked into the Orchard Palace, a wing of the current residence of the former Royal Family - Gondal was yet another Princely State. The Palace was used as a guest house in the 19th century and is now a Heritage Hotel.

The Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal (photographed next morning)

Once settled in, Vijay and L transported us to the Riverside Palace built in 1875 by Maharaja Bhagvatsinghji for the use of his son. Our destination was the Riverside Palace Restaurant, a recent single-story glass and steel construction - we missed the actual palace in the dark. Being the only diners in a large restaurant is a touch unnerving, but the vegetarian meal of aubergines, potatoes, dahl and rice with pearl millet bread was pleasant - and the service was (unsurprisingly) attentive. I often photograph my food, but on this occasion I chose to photograph the restaurant’s 1939 Rytecraft Scootacar. About 1,000 of these unlikely vehicles were made by the British Motorboat Manufacturing Company between 1934 and 1940.

Gondal 8, a 1939 Rytecraft Scootacar, Riverside Palace Restaurant, Gondal

08/03/2019

The Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

We breakfasted alone at a table that could have accommodated more…

Breakfast at the Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

….and enjoyed a brief stroll round the formal gardens…

Formal garden, Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

… and the orchards which gave the palace its name.

Orchard, Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

With Vijay, we looked at the Maharaja’s photographs, but they were largely of Bollywood film stars we did not recognise…

The Maharaja's Photograph collection, Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

…so we went to inspect his private train.

The Maharaja's Private Train, Orchard Palace, Gondal

On to the Maharaja's private train, Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

With a dining room, sitting room….

Living and dining rooms Maharaja's private train, Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

…and bedroom, the Maharaja travelled in style.

Bedroom, Maharaja's private train, Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

The Royal Vintage and Classic Car Collection, Orchard Palace, Gondal

The Maharaja’s collection of cars vintage (built 1919-30) and classic (vaguely defined as 20+ years old and of sufficient historical interest to be worth preserving or restoring rather than scrapping) claims to be the best in Asia, though I think it has stiff competition from the Royal Automobile Museum in Amman. A great deal of money has been lavished on the Jordanian museum, but to be fair, the Maharaja makes no charge for entry – and all his cars are maintained in working order.

1951 Chevrolet, Gondal Museum

The plates of Gujarat registered cars start GJ, and those from the Rajkot district, which includes Gondal, GJ 03, but it was different in the early days. We had encountered GONDAL 8 in the restaurant last night, GONDAL 27 is a 1947 Oldsmobile…

GONDAL 27, a 1947 Oldsmobile

….and they still have GONDAL 1, though nobody seems sure what it is. One blogger suggests it is a 1903 car/bus into which various engines could be inserted, but it does not look quite that old. Others happily identify every other vehicle – most were well labelled – but not this one. I have been unable to find anything like it - there are few things that Google does not know, perhaps this is one of them.

GONDAL 1 - though I stupidly missed the plate off the picture

Naulakha Palace, Gondal

L drove us the short distance to the Naulakha Palace. Gondal became independent from the State of Rajkot in 1634 and was ruled by Thakurs – a rank below Raja. The state prospered and the Naulakha Palace was started in 1748 under the second Thakur. ‘Naulakha’ means ‘nine lakhs’ (900,000) which was the cost of the original structure in Rupees.

Naulakha Palace, Gondal

The palace is now a complex of buildings on a compact site beside the River Bhadar with a clock tower at its entrance, stone carvings, balconies…

Naulakha Palace and its clocktower entrance, Gondal

… and a pillared courtyard with delicately carved arches.

Pillared courtyard, Naulakha Palace, Gondal

The oldest building houses a large chandelier-lit Durbar Hall…

Durbar Hall, Naulakha Palace, Gondal

…and rooms in Victorian style…

'Victorian drawing room,' Naulukha Palace, Gondal

…with some solid antique furniture.

solid antique furniture, Naulakha Palace, Gondal

Much of this and the "private palace museum"…

Private Palace Museum, Naulakha Palace, Gondal

…commemorate the remarkable Maharaja Bhagvatsinghji, the 12th ruler of Gondal and the first to style himself ‘Maharaja’.

Maharaja Bhagvatsinghji of Gondal in 1911
Photo (in the public domain) from the Lafayette Collection in the V&A

After coming to the throne in 1869 at the age of 4, the British Raj provided a series of regents while the young maharaja attended to his education. After completing his medical studies at Edinburgh University, he returned home and took on the serious business of ruling. He reformed the state administration, built schools and colleges providing free and compulsory education for both boys and girls, built technical schools for engineers and training facilities for labourers. He improved the local livestock, introducing modern ideas in animal husbandry, built railways, dams and sewage systems, and oversaw the introduction of electricity and a telephone network. He also, as we had seen earlier, collected cars.

A busy man and a popular ruler, he died in 1944 aged 78, and it was left to his son Maharaja Bhojrajji to complete the state’s adoption of 20th century ideas by signing Gondal’s accession to the Indian Union in 1948.

Bhagvatsinghji also wrote the first dictionary of Gujarati and contributed to the collections in the Palace Museum, which include carriages….

Part of the carriage collection, Naulakha Palace, Gondal

….clocks….

Clock collection, Naulakha Palace, Gondal

….and a teapot collection which would bring a smile to anybody’s lips (particularly a ‘Corrie’ fan).

Part of the teapot collection, Naulakha Palace, Gondal

Sagramsinhji High School

Leaving the palace, we walked north through the streets of the city…

Gondal

…with an ‘only in India’ moment.

Only in India will you find a bull wandering city streets, Gondal

We passed through the vegetable market…

Fruit and veg market, Gondal

…with an impressive pile of chillies…

An impressive pile of chillis, Gondal

…before reaching the imposing campus of Sagramsinhji High School.

Sagramsinhji High School, Gondal

In India we have previously travelled with a driver and picked up local guides as appropriate. Gujarat is off the beaten track and local English-speaking guides are rare, so we were travelling with a guide as well as a driver.

Guides vary in quality; it is not their local knowledge that defines them – that is always at least adequate - it is their approach. The worst (and we have met one or two) believe their job is to protect their clients from local culture. They have met lots of foreigners so they know what foreigners want, and they know it better than you do. I recall the Chinese guide who told us she had been into the restaurant kitchen after we had ordered lunch and told them ‘absolutely no chillies’; there was no need to consult us, she knew foreigners don’t like chillies.

Vijay - a guide who opens doors

The best, pick up on your interests and cater for them; Sue in Myanmar spotted me studiously reading the labels of locally made wine (who knew there was such a thing?!) and suggested we might like to rearrange the next day’s schedule and visit the Red Mountain Winery. We did, indeed.

The very best open doors you could never open yourself. Five minutes after arriving at Sagramsinhji we were sitting in the principal’s office drinking tea with him. Thank you Vijay Gohil.

With the Principal, Sagramsinhji High School

The principal treated us to a half-hour rant on his many problems. He seemed a decent man deeply frustrated by the job he is trying to do. His issues could be summed up as ‘why do politicians insist on continually interfering in my job’ – a cry that would be echoed by many teachers in many countries.

He gave us a tour of the school which was built by Maharaja Bhagvatsinghji and inspired by Eton College (his sent his first son to Eton and second to Harrow). Today it bears little resemblance to its template, Sagramsinhji is not a private school and the intake is dictated by local government. With only 400 pupils and 19 teachers, part of the building is closed and he can employ only one cleaner.

The large old hall sits under a layer of dust, Sagramsinhji High School, Gondal

The school is seriously under resourced and the library antiquated. Being exam time, there were very few students around but we eventually came across a small group revising quietly, A-level chemistry, or its equivalent, being their current concern.

Chemistry revision, Sagramsinhji High School, Gondal

The school has a magnificent clocktower, though it shows different times on different faces, and....

Sagrmasinhji High School Clock Tower, Gondal

...a nearby section of the wall smelt strongly of ammonia; the site is completely open, anybody can come here any time of day or night to do whatever they need.

We sympathised with the principal and took our leave.

Briefly back at the Orchard Palace

It was lunch time and L drove us back to the hotel. With no restaurants in the vicinity we decided to have a cup-a-soup (other instant soups are available) on the extensive communal balcony outside our room.

Cup-a-soup on the communal balcony, Orchard Palace, Gondal

We also had the use of a lounge, had we needed it – we called it Flat Stanley's room in honour of the zebra on the wall (Lynne assures me Flat Stanley was the hero of a series of children's books).

Flat Stanley's room, Orchard Palace Hotel, Gondal

Shree Bhuvaneshwari Aushadhashram

When the afternoon heat had abated we drove to the Shree Bhuvaneshwari Aushadhashram.

Bhuvaneshwara Temple, Gondal

Despite India being heavily invested in ‘western style scientific medicine’ the ayurvedic tradition remains strong. In 1910, when Gondal was ruled by Maharaja Bhagvatsinghji, himself a qualified doctor, the Royal Physician founded an ayurvedic aushadhasram (Pharmacy) beside the little Bhuvaneshwari Temple (Bhuvaneshwari is an avatar of Parvati, the wife if Shiva).

Shree Bhuvaneshwara Aushadhashram, Gondal

We looked round the aushadhasram, where pills, oils and lotions are manufactured. The machinery is interesting, sometimes quirky, but do the treatments for hair loss, vertigo, insomnia and other conditions actually work?

There is much wrong with the way medicine is practiced in the west, and even more wrong with ‘big pharma’, but these are largely problems of the misdirection of money. I have absolute faith in medicine based on scientific inquiry and am always sceptical when spirituality becomes involved. That said, I have enjoyed ayurvedic massages in India (see Kabini and the Nagarhole National Park) and Sri Lanka (Sigiriya Rock and Ayurvedic Massage). You may accuse me of hypocrisy if you wish, but I merely find it a pleasant experience and expect no magic effect on my thinning hair or thickening waistline.

One small curiosity is that the Royal Physician, Rajvaidya Shastri is said to have been the first to refer to Gandhi as ‘Mahatma’ (Great Soul) and the title was formally bestowed upon him here by Shastri in the presence of Maharaja Bhagvatsinghji in January 1915.

Memorial where Gandhi was first called 'Mahatma', Bhuvaneshwara Aushadhashram, Gondal

The Swaminarayan Temple, Gondal

Gondal’s Swaminarayan Temple – gleaming white marble approached through a sandstone arch – was a short walk away.

Gatehouse and Swaminarayan Temple, Gondal

Once through the gatehouse we entered a different world. The trees and hedges were neatly trimmed, the grass newly mown and watered, the courtyard not just devoid of dust and litter but polished until it sparkled and the temple itself was so white it hurt the eyes.

Swaminarayan Temple, Gondal

Swaminarayan

Thanks to http://www.swaminarayan.info 

Swaminaryan was born Ghanshyam Pande in 1781 in Uttar Pradesh and is said to have mastered the Hindu scriptures by the age of seven. He was orphaned at 11 and immediately set off on a ten-year pilgrimage to find an ashram practicing what he considered a correct understanding of Hindu philosophy. His search ended near Junagadh in Gujarat where he met Ramanand Swami, leader of the Uddhav Sampraday sect. Ghanshyam Pande adopted Ramanand Swami as his guru and Ramanand named him as his successor, giving him the name Swaminarayan.

He led what became the Swaminarayan Sampradaya from 1803 until his death in 1830, preaching the primacy of Krishna and focusing on salvation through total devotion to God by means of virtue, spiritual wisdom and detachment.

At Vijay's suggestion we first went round the side and entered the lower level of the temple The inside was breath-taking, whether looking at the pillars....

Swaminarayan Temple, Gondal

 ...or the ceiling...

Swaminarayan Temple, Gondal

....or somewhere in between.

Swaminarayan Temple, Gondal

We watched smartly dressed devotees walked in circles around the walls, men one way, women the other, then we joined in the spirit by walking right round the temple (though both the same direction) to the front.

The main temple at the top of the stairs is even more ornate and because it is partly open, sunlight also plays a part. There are prominent ‘no photographing’ signs, but after we had watched the circumambulatory believers for a while, Lynne broke and sneaked her camera from her bag. Before she even turned it on there was a tap on the shoulder and a quiet word in the ear – so we have no pictures, and that is what they want.

Swaminarayan built six temples during his life, but since then the sect has gone from strength to strength. Its stronghold remains in Gujarat, but is now a worldwide organisation – there are 15 Swaminarayan Temples in England and Wales. Like all religious foundations there were schisms once the founder died and there are now several organisations using his name.

This temple belongs to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Sanstha (BAPS) denomination, the most international of the Swaminarayan organisations, with large temples in London, Los Angeles and Toronto among other major cities. Its strength among the Indian Hindu diaspora ensures that BAPS is well funded for both its charity work, and the maintenance of its temples.

Nearby is the Yogi Smruti Mandir. The ashes of Yogi Smruti (also known as Yogiji Maharaj) who was the second leader of BAPS have been honoured here since his death in 1971.

Yogi Smruti Mandir, Swaminarayan Temple, Gondal

 Recently a new temple of Jaisalmer stone, ideal for intricate carvings….

Carvings, Yogi Smruti Mandir, Swaminarayan Temple, Gondal

…has been opened in his memory.

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The ashes of Yogi Smruti, Yogi Smruti Mandir, Naraswami Temple, Gondal

Dinner at the Orchard Palace Hotel

We dined in the hotel, the guests sitting around long communal tables. The multi-course dinner was expensive, by Indian standards, and although there was nothing wrong with it, I cannot say it was a memorable meal.

Gujarat

Part 1: Ahmedabad (1) Liquor Licences, Mosques and Tombs
Part 2: Ahmedabad (2) A Stepwell, Gandhi and a Thali
Part 3: Meeting the Locals
Part 4: Siddhpur, Patan and Modhera
Part 5: Salt and Wild Asses in the Little Rann of Kutch
Part 6: Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar
Part 7: Bhavnagar
Part 8: Palitana and the Temples on Shatrunjaya Hill
Part 9: A Lion Hunt and a Visit to Junagadh
Part 10: Gondal
Part 11: Gondal to Bhuj
Part 12: Bhuj
Part 13: To the Great Rann of Kutch, Craft Villages and a Salt Desert
Part 14: Going to School and Other Entertainments in the Great Rann of Kutch