A triumphant homecoming: the frieze programme on Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II's cenotaph.

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By the mid-16th century funerary architecture had become a widely practised form of memorialization throughout the former Hindu Rajput (kshatriya) kingdoms of northwest India. Typically, though with a few notable exceptions, royal Rajput memorials take the form of small domed and pillared stone kiosks, referred to as chhatris. In most north Indian languages, chhatri literally means umbrella, which is appropriate as in the Indic context the umbrella icon has historically signified authority and legitimacy in both temporal and sacred contexts. Mimicking the umbrella form and alluding to its associated meanings, these less ephemeral chhatris are cenotaphs that mark the location where extraordinary members of society, including kings and their satis, high-ranking nobles, martial folk heroes, and saints, were cremated. Each of the erstwhile Rajput kingdoms modified the umbrella form of the memorials and developed complex frieze or mural programmes to create distinct regional variations within their own chhatri tradition that reflect their patrons' public identities. Each of the former princely states in Rajasthan has at least one royal necropolis with chhatris that commemorate late maharajas, the forms and decorative programmes of which inform the patient investigator of the political concerns of the royal house at the specific historical moments of their construction. This article examines the chhatri of Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II who ruled the state of Jaipur between 1880 and 1922. Using historical accounts written during Sawai Madho Singh's rule, it considers the meaning and purpose of the frieze programme displayed on the chhatri's base.

The Chhatri as Signifier of Legitimacy

Of all the royal Rajput houses, the Jaipur maharajas, from the royal house of Kachhawaha, were among the wealthiest, most powerful and prolific patrons of art and architecture. After the death of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, the founder of the city, in 1743, the Kachhawaha maharajas were cremated and memorialized in the exclusive royal necropolis of Gaitor, to the north of Jaipur city. (1) According to Rajput custom, it was typically the son and new king who, shortly after ascending the throne, patronized the building of a chhatri to commemorate his predecessor. The very act of commissioning a chhatri was thus a public proclamation of legitimacy, and in patronizing the chhatri the new king announced to his subjects and nobles (some of whom often held aspirations to the throne) that he was the rightful successor to the throne.

The Chhatri as Politically Performative Space

The most important ceremonies in which a new Rajput king participates immediately on ascending the throne are two semi-private installation ceremonies in the palace precinct: the raj tilak and the raja abhishek. However, while it is a Hindu eldest son's dharma, or religiously sanctioned duty to light his father's pyre, traditionally Rajput kings did not even leave their palaces to attend their predecessors' cremations, due in part to fear of a usurper seizing the throne in their absence. (2) It is perhaps ironic that only the Rajput kings who were coronated immediately before or after Independence, when in fact they had been divested of their titles and political power, began to personally perform their fathers' last rites. (3) It was customary for the new king to only follow the shay yatra (funeral procession) to the outer gate of Jaipur's City Palace. As he did not play a conspicuous role in the former king's cremation, as Hindu sons and heirs typically do, the puja pratishta provided the pre-modern Rajput maharaja with a performative public ritual, which would serve to advertise the direct line of legitimacy and political authority. The puja pratishta is the chhatri's inauguration ceremony, during which a marker is installed at the centre of the cenotaphs floor, directly under the dome, indicating where the cremation took place, and a spire (kalash) is affixed to the apex of the dome. (4) The types of markers vary among the different Rajput kingdoms, but the Kachhawaha tradition employs unadorned marble slabs (charan choki or paliyan). After his raj tilak, the two other ceremonies would serve to reinforce the new king's legitimate claim to the throne as their performance was the responsibility of the eldest son and successor. In these ceremonies, the new king was the protagonist, and the audience that witnessed these legitimacy-affirming ceremonies was composed of high-ranking nobles, who would either assist and support his reign or conspire to usurp the throne. The puja pratishta would thus be the culmination of the transfer of power and fulfilment of filial duty.

The Succession of Sawai Madho Singh II

When Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh (1835-80) reached old age without an heir, the Kachhawaha line, which had until that moment ruled uninterrupted, was faced with a crisis. In such cases, which are quite common in Rajput history, when a king neared old age issueless, protocol dictated that he adopt a son from a thikana (principality) with whom the royal house shared a close blood line. In the case of Kachhawahas, it had long been established that an heirless maharaja would appoint a successor from among the sons of the Thakur of Jhalai thikana. However, Sawai Ram Singh II flouted convention and appointed the second son of the Thakur of Isarda, Kayam Singh, later renamed Sawai Madho Singh II, as his heir. (5)

Throughout his reign (1881-1922), Madho Singh II was dogged by the fact that he was the less than obvious choice for the throne. His constant need to advertise his right to rule informed many of his public commissions, such as the chhatri he commissioned for his adopted father, Sawai Ram Singh (figure 1). Ram Singh's chhatri is not only located next to and on the same marble base as the chhatri of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh (r. 1699-1743), the founder of Jaipur city and one of the Kachhawahas' most illustrious ancestors, it is a near exact replica of the earlier chhatri. By patronizing a chhatri for Sawai Ram Singh that was a facsimile of Sawai Jai Singh's, Sawai Madho Singh II makes explicit reference to the accomplished Kachhawaha ancestor, and underscores the concept of dynastic continuity. The proximity of the two cenotaphs proclaims that Sawai Ram Singh descended from Sawai Jai Singh, and as the chhatri's patron, Sawai Madho Singh II places himself in the line of succession to one of the most powerful Rajput houses.

Sawai Madho Singh II's Journey

Sawai Madho Singh II was one of Jaipur's most progressive, modern, and urbane, yet deeply religious rulers. In 1901, he was summoned to attend Edward VII's coronation in London. An official imperial order, it could hardly be declined. However, the journey posed serious threats to the maharajas rule due to both the political situation in Jaipur at the turn of the 20th century, and wider notions of religious purity and pollution. But, through a carefully crafted propaganda programme, Madho Singh II was able to successfully transform the event into a phenomenally successful coup, the greatest triumph of his political career. Recall that as Ram Singh II's adopted heir, from a less than conventional source, Madho Singh II's legitimacy was questioned. Leaving his kingdom for the several months the journey would entail would leave it open to insurrection. More troubling, however, was that as a high-caste Hindu, travel out of India posed the threat of ritual defilement, through what he ate, drank, and touched. The Maharaja, his priests and ministers thus carefully custom-tailored the journey, ensuring that he was able to adhere to his orthodox Hindu habits. The idol of the state deity, Govind Dev, was ensconced in his suite on the ocean liner and preceded the king in all of the state functions conveying the notion that his potentially defiling journey was actually divinely sanctioned. (6) To silence any possible critics back in his home state, and to assure them that he had acted as an ideal ambassador and had not broken any caste taboos, Madho Singh II commissioned Shivnarayan Saksena to write a propagandist work, Jaipur Naresh ki England Yatra, about his daily activities, in the style of a diary, covering the events of the entire journey. Saksena presents the Maharaja's triumphal return to his capital and the procession back to the City Palace as the most dramatic performative moment of the journey.

The description of the Jaipur camp at Edward VII's coronation durbar in Delhi in 1902 offered by the official British souvenir publication also reflects how Sawai Madho Singh II reconciled the traditional with the modern international:

   ... essentially Indian in style and ... arranged
   in the characteristic form of an old Rajput
   encampment ... but the refinement and
   elegance of his camp, with its carefully
   planned Italian gardens in front, indicated
   that its principal occupant, while preserving
   his traditions intact was ready to make the
   fullest use of what he had learned by contact
   with Europeans, while there was no conflict
   between the two forms of civilization.... (7)

Sawai Madho Singh II's Cenotaph 

Like his adoptive father, Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II reached old age without a natural heir, and was forced to adopt. And like his predecessor, he opted to flout convention and pass over the thikana of Jhalai in favour of his nephew, Mormukat Singh, later renamed Sawai Man Singh II, also from Isarda. Perhaps to delay the inevitable political uproar, Madho Singh II did not publicly announce his successor till 1921, the year before his death. (8) And so, history repeated itself in Jaipur state: on Madho Singh's death, predictably, many of the nobles did not support the new Maharaja and like many Rajput rulers before him, Man Singh II was faced with having to justify his claim to the throne. His response was conventional--building a chhatri for his "father"--but the memorial's style and message were innovative (figure 2). History records that Man Singh II was indeed involved in stylistic decisions and that all the plans were submitted to him before construction began. (9)

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The chhatri, which was constructed between 1924 and 1933, departs from convention in its personalization. The cenotaph's contemporary Indo-Saracenic architectural style and frieze programme highlight Madho Singh II's modern and cosmopolitan rule. This is not to say that the memorial is completely devoid of references to the past. On the contrary, quotations from earlier Kachhawaha chhatris and temple commissions at their former capital of Amber also feature in Madho Singh II's memorial, and are integrated with the modern.

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Madho Singh II's is the only cenotaph at Gaitor that is two-storeyed, The lower storey is of red sandstone and serves as an elongated base, with internal and external ambulatories. The upper storey is open and the actual chhatri, constructed entirely of white marble, is located at its centre (figure 3). A smaller domed pavilion is placed at each of the four corners. (10)

The red sandstone and white marble building material and neo-Mughal style were not so much a bow to tradition as features of the contemporary Indo-Saracenic architectural style, which was favoured in Jaipur during both Madho Singh II and Man Singh II's reigns. That this architectural style was chosen for the memorial is appropriate, as Madho Singh II's greatest architectural commissions, the Albert Hall public museum and the Mubarak Hall at the City Palace, were also built in this style.

To the chhatri's basic Indo-Saracenic structure were grafted European motifs: European-style, rather than indigenous-type sculpted lions flank each of the structure's four directional entrances, reliefs of putties blowing trumpets recline against Baroque-style scrolling vegetal work on the ground floor, clusters of grapes are suspended from the capitals in the upper storey of the chhatri, while buxom, topless Victorian-style angels are seated along the bases (figure 4). These features are doubtless the result of Madho Singh II's and Man Singh II's exposure to European design while abroad (Man Singh II himself spent several years in England). Nestled among these imported motifs are the excerpts from the past: high-relief figures of female attendants and chauri bearers that are traceable to some of the oldest Kachhawaha chhatris, such as that of Raja Man Singh, c. 1620 at Amber. Although earlier Kachhawaha chhatris offer decorative programmes that are overwhelmingly Krishnavite, here these figures convey the notion of dynastic continuity and also allude to Madho Singh II's ardent devotion to Krishna. What is conspicuously absent from this chhatri's decorative programme are the ubiquitous hunting scenes that typically adorn the bases or walls of Rajput chhatris.

The Frieze on the Chhatri's Base

Along the octagonally planned base of Sawai Madho Singh II's chhatri are eight sculpted panels depicting a royal procession. Caparisoned elephants, horses, camels, musicians, standard and flag bearers, infantrymen, and other attendants, progress alongside empty vehicles, including a European-style buggy, palanquin, carriage, and bullock carts. None of the Gaitor chhatris offers portraits of the commemorated on their chhatris, indicating that this was taboo. (11)

The procession is clearly set in the main artery of Jaipur's old city, recognizable through the detailed depictions of landmarks. If such care has been taken in rendering these structures so as to make them recognizable, then the frieze programme must depict an actual historical event, but what exactly?

The presence of empty vehicles would initially appear to suggest a reference to death, most likely the Maharajas shay yatra, or funeral procession, in which, according to custom, his corpse was carried from the City Palace through the city along with state dignitaries and members of the public to the cremation ground at Gaitor. A contemporary account of Madho Singh II's shay yatra by a palace recorder (khabarnavis), Gulab Chand Dhaddha, outlines the preparation of the corpse, those who participated in the event, and the route it followed to Gaitor. Dhaddha's mention of the traditional gifts of an elephant, horses, bullock carts, and palanquins to brahmans and others involved in the cremation would appear to lend further credence to the theory that the frieze depicts the Maharaja's shav yatra. Dhaddha also refers to Man Singh II's presence in the shay yatra, which would publicly reaffirm his position as Madho Singh's successor. (12)

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Jaipur Naresh ki England Yatra, Saksena's state-sponsored account of the Maharajas journey abroad, provides an alternative reading in our search for the meaning of the frieze programme. The text provides a lavishly detailed account of Madho Singh II returning to his capital in a triumphal parade, his homecoming being highlighted as the climax of the journey. Madho Singh II was one of the first Indian kings to travel abroad. He successfully fulfilled his role as the British emperor's faithful subject, while managing to avoid ritual defilement. Negotiating these two disparate cultural requirements was a huge political coup for Madho Singh II, which he publicly announced to his subjects in the performative act of his triumphant re-entry into Jaipur. Saksena informs us that Madho Singh II and his retinue were received by his adoring subjects with flags and banners, upon which were written "Welcome Home" and "Long Live the King". They were met at the train station by the Maharajas elite military unit, the Transport Corps. Saksena also mentions the presence of horses, elephants, cannons, and rifles to give the Maharaja a regal, military-style reception. Merchants watched the procession from their homes above their shops in the bazaar. (13) All of these aspects are depicted in the plinth tableaux.

The Royal Processional Route

Saksena informs us that the procession entered the city through the Sanganeri Gate, which is one of the most convincing pieces of evidence that the frieze programme depicts the Maharajas re-entry into Jaipur. After entering the Sanganeri Gate, the first conspicuous structure is the Hanuman Temple, the city's principal one to this deity. Accordingly, Hanuman enshrined in a temple features prominently in one tableau. Elements depicted in the pageant, such as the royal insignias of power and prestige and their sequence, mirror traditional royal parades held in Jaipur and are still seen today. This panel is clearly the beginning of the narrative sequence, as it is traditional for the state flag, with its five and a half bands of contrasting colours (panchranga) to be carried atop an elephant at the beginning of royal processions. (14) The temple is at the top of Johari Bazaar, which is depicted in four successive panels (one of them being figure 5). The Johari Bazaar is one of Jaipur's most vital commercial arteries, densely packed on either side with shops and businesses. Madho Singh himself offered merchants incentives to come to his capital and commerce thrived during his reign. Thus, the purpose of carefully rendering the bazaar is twofold: it makes the occasion recognizable, and refers to another one of the Maharajas successes. Saksena's account mentions passing through the Sireh Deori Bazaar, which is identifiable on the chhatri through the depiction of Jaipur's most distinctive landmark, the Hawa Mahal. The narrative sequence concludes in front of the Naya Mahal (figure 6). This Neoclassical-style structure designed by Madho Singh's pre-eminent architect, Sir Swinton Jacob at the end of the 19th century, was purpose built to house the Jaipur Museum, again visually linking the ruler with another of his successful commissions. The frieze programme on the base of Madho Singh II's chhatri thus appears to be a translation into stone of the Maharajas re-entry into his capital, mirroring the route Saksena describes.

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The many annual parades that have been held in Jaipur since the city's foundation, including those on holidays such as Teej and Dashera, begin at the City Palace and follow a different route to that described in Saksena's text and depicted on the chhatri. Holiday parades do not come into the proximity of either the Sanganeri Gate or the Johari Bazaar. Similarly, the royal shav yatra, en route to the Gaitor necropolis does not pass these locations. However, if the frieze programme does in fact offer a rendition of celebratory homecoming, and not the Maharajas funeral procession, then why are the vehicles conspicuously empty, as if alluding to the absence of the deceased? This may be explained by the fact that royal processions in Jaipur that commemorate festive occasions such as holidays and a king's triumphant homecoming, have traditionally included such empty buggies, litters, and carriages, as the City Palace inventories record, and still remain a feature in royal parades today. Empty vehicles also feature in the public processions of other former princely states and are similarly documented--the Dashera murals in the Mysore City Palace and the Scindia Moti Mahal in Gwalior state. They feature in the tableaux because they were present on the occasion it commemorates.

Conclusion

Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II's chhatri presents an unconventional form of Rajput memorialization. Although not common, other Rajput chhatris do offer depictions of actual historical events. The difference however, is that other memorials present scenes of the deceased king in more iconic courtly situations, such as the raj tilak ceremony, hunting, or enthroned in durbar. And, so the question remains, why would Man Singh II be interested in showcasing this particular event from his adoptive father's reign?

Rajput chhatris, like most types of memorials throughout the world which are patronized by new successors to the throne, are as much for the benefit of the living as they are for the deceased. That is, they tell us as much about the patron and his political aspirations as they do about the successes of the memorialized. Rajput chhatris constructed of the most costly materials and displaying the most elaborate decorative programmes, like Madho Singh II's, are nearly always patronized by a new king who ascends the throne with legitimacy anxieties, such as Man Singh II. The frieze programme on Madho Singh II's chhatri immortalizes him in the most glorious moment of his political career. The royal re-entry procession into Jaipur refers directly to Madho Singh II's political triumph that preceded this event: his successful trip to attend Edward VII's coronation. Throughout the journey, the Maharaja displayed his sagacity and religious devotion to the world. A ruler with such an accomplishment to his credit would not have made a mistake in something as important as his choice of successor. By commissioning a chhatri for his father, Man Singh II was subscribing to an established Rajput practice of publicly proclaiming the royal line of succession, while the chhatri's frieze programme justifies it, thereby establishing his own legitimacy to the throne.

Figure Acknowledgements

All photographs by the writer.

Notes

(1) Prior to the establishment of Jaipur city as their capital, the Kachhawaha necropolis was located in the previous capital of Amber, north of Jaipur.

(2) Marzia Balzani, Modern Indian Kingship: Tradition Legitimacy and Power in Rajasthan, Oxford, 2003, pp. 29-38.

(3) Ibid., R.P. Singh and Kanwar Rajpal Singh, Sawai Madho Singh of Jaipur: Life and Legend, New Delhi, 2005, p. 184.

(4) The puja pratishta ceremony is a highly formal occasion. Invitations to attend the inauguration of Sawai Madho Singh II's chhatri in Gaitor, sent to Tazimi Sardars (the highest ranking noblemen in Jaipur state), stipulate the dress code as formal white (the traditional Hindu colour of death and mourning). They also specifically state that the new Maharaja (Sawai Man Singh II) would officiate over the major parts of the ceremony. (PWD Report, 763, Cenotaph of His Late Highness Maharaja Madho Singhji: Construction of and Puja Pratishta, Rajasthan State Archives, Jaipur, 1928.)

(5) Aman Nath, Jaipur, the Last Destination, Bombay, 1993, p. 114.

(6) Nath, p. 111; Giles Tillotson, Jaipur Nama, New Delhi, 2006, pp. 195-203.

(7) Nath, pp. 112-13.

(8) Tillotson, pp. 216-17.

(9) Public Works Department Files 6-8, 1763, Rajasthan State Archives, Jaipur.

(10) All of the Gaitor chhatris have a similar arrangement, with the main memorial located centrally, flanked by four diminutive pavilions, one of which enshrined the akhand jyoti, the eternal flame that was always kept alight in memory of the deceased king.

(11) This practice of aniconism in the Gaitor chhatris did not extend to all of the royal Kachhawaha chhatri traditions. Portraits of the deceased kings and thakurs appear in their chhatris in other Kachhawaha former princely states, such as Alwar and Shekhawati.

Official correspondence from the Jaipur State Public Works Department regarding the construction of Madho Singh II's chhatri informs us that original plans included 16 panels around the interior of the drum offering portraits of Jaipur's previous rulers (PWD File 763, p. 15). Such a layout would naturally underscore the concept of dynastic continuity, from the earliest rulers of the state, through Madho Singh II memorialized in the chhatri, to Man Singh II his heir and patron of the chhatri. The file is silent about why the portrait scheme was abandoned, nor does it tell us whose idea it was in the first place.

(12) Dyodi ke Darwaza Dandh: Madho Singh ki Antim Yatra, in Nagar Parikrama, Rajasthan Patrika, February 4, 1991.

(13) Shivnarayan Saksena, "Jaipur mai Pravesh", "Sahar mai Pravesh", Jaipur Naresh ki England Yatra, Jaipur, 1922.

(14) I am grateful to Pankaj Sharma, Director of the Sawai Man Singh II Museum at the Jaipur City Palace, for information on the royal insignias of power traditionally displayed in the Jaipur parades.