Festivals bring cultures closer and that’s what attracts Jaipur’s erstwhile royal, Padmanabh Singh, to them. Singh, head of the Kachhwaha clan of Jaipur, shares, “Rajasthan and Jaipur in particular celebrates the festivals in a very unique way- one that very few cities can match. It’s almost a month-long affair or sort of action-packed period for the city, filled with rituals, pujas, illuminated streets city, galore and gaiety and celebrations. As a family as a city, we make sure that we celebrate the festivals and keep alive in its history, heritage and grandeur, keeping up with the traditions and culture of the family. The whole place is illuminated with lights and diyas, puja is performed in an elaborate manner. We celebrate with full pomp and pageantry and no crackers at all. The festival also reminds me of our childhood when our grand father late Brigadier Bhawani Singh MVC used to share stories about the festival. We used to sit in puja with him, enjoy small small rituals and festivities.”
A Purohit ties a mouli around deputy chief minister and Jaipur royal Diya Kumari’s wrist during last year’s Lakshami Pujan
My friends from across thw world come to witness Diwali Singh, who is an international polo player have friends from all across the globe coming to witness the grand Diwali celebrations every year. “I have friends from all across the globe coming to witness and experience the festival. In fact I love to see them mesmerize with the grandeur of our culture and history. They experience and witness this grandeur at it best and become ambassadors of our culture and spread more about it in their own country, promoting it in foreign land.“We wear black and blue on Diwali Rather than going for bright festival colours, the family wear black or blue attire on the occasion of Diwali. As per a legendary story, their ancestors got killed while fighting for the motherland on Diwali night. Jamwai Mata, our Kuldevi of the Kanchwaha’s at the Ramgarh is said to have miraculously brought them back to life. Singh says, “We wear black and blue to mark the old story. Its our way or a mark of respect and devotion to our family deity who restored our fallen ancestors.” Despite ages, the family still continue to believe in them. Sharing more on this, he adds, “What makes our country so special is that we continue to live, revive and incorporate in our lives these traditions which were established by our forefathers thousands of years ago. We are one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Our country, is one of the most culturally rich country in the world, and we take great pride in this. Having said that, I would like to admit that it’s important for us to be the contemporary citizens of the world to embrace modern technologies and other innovations that are going on in the world and not only embrace but also contribute to them. But it is equally important to embrace your past, your history, respect it, follow it and pass it down to your children and to your next generation. Because they are so unique and give us sense of identity and belongingness. We hope that people continue to celebrate the festival just as they used to be done before.”
