HRH Maharaja Gaj Singh ll

HRH Raj Rajeshwar Maharaja Gaj Singh was born the only son of Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur by his wife, Maharani Krishna Kumari of Dhrangadhra. He succeeded to the titles and dignities of his father when only four years of age, in 1952, when his father died suddenly in a plane crash. He was enthroned shortly afterwards.

The infant Maharaja and his siblings were raised by their mother, Rajmata Krishna Kumari. At the age of eight, Gaj Singh was sent first to a prep school at Cothill and then to Eton College. After Eton, he went on to Christ Church, Oxford where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

n 1970, Gaj Singh returned to Jodhpur to take up his duties as titular Maharaja of Jodhpur and head of the Rathore clan. In 1973, he wed Hemalata Rajye, daughter of the Raja of Poonch, a major feudatory estate of Kashmir state. They are the parents of two children, being:

1. A daughter,Maharajkumari Shivranjani Rajye (b. 1974), and
2. A son,Yuvraj Saheb Shivraj Singh (b. 1975), heir apparent to his father's dignities.

Later, His Highness served as Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago. He also served a term in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament.

In 2002, Gaj Singh celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his accession as Maharaja in royal style.

HH Rajmata Sri Gayatri Devi Sahiba

HH Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur (born May 23 1919 as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar), was the third Maharani of Jaipur from 1939 to 1970 through marriage to Sawai Man Singh II, and is currently the Rajmata, or Queen Mother.

Following India's independence and the subsequent abolition of the princely states, she became an extremely successful politician. Gayatri Devi was also celebrated for her classical beauty and became something of a fashion icon in her adulthood.

Her father, Prince Jitendra Narayan of Cooch Behar, was the younger brother of the Yuvraja (Crown Prince). Her mother was Princess Indira Raje of Baroda, an extremely beautiful princess and a legendary socialite. Early in her life, her uncle's death led to her father ascending the throne (gaddi). Gayatri Devi studied at Shantiniketan, and later in Europe, where she travelled with her mother and siblings, then studied secretarial skills in London.

The Jaipur Royal Family lived a lavish life: hunting in their forests, spending summers in Europe, educating the royal children at elite schools in England, entertaining streams of famous visitors at their desert palaces, and generally living the typically flamboyant life which was normal for Indian royals.

Maharani Gayatri Devi (as she was styled after marriage) was a particularly avid equestrienne. Rajmata Gayatri Devi had one child, Prince Jagat Singh of Jaipur, Raja of Isarda, who was granted his grandfather's fief as a subsidiary title, and the Maharani later became the Rajmata, or Queen Mother. Raja Jagat Singh was thus half-brother to the present HRH Maharaja of Jaipur,HRH Sawai Bhawani Singh of Jaipur.

HH Gayatri Devi was once included in Vogue magazine's Ten Most Beautiful Women list.^[1]

Rajmata Gayatri Devi started schools for girls' education in Jaipur, most prominent of which is the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ Public School. She also promoted the dying art of blue pottery.

After Partition and Independence Day in India in 1947, and later the abolition of Royal India in 1970, Gayatri Devi ran for Parliament in 1962 and won the constituency in the Lok Sabha in the world's largest landslide, confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records. She continued to hold this seat on 1967 and 1971, Swatantra Party, running against the Congress Party. This enraged Indira Gandhi, who retaliated in 1971 by abolishing the privy purses, and stopping all royal privileges, breaking the treaties agreed upon in 1947. Gayatri Devi was accused of breaking tax laws, and served 5 months in Tihar Jail. She retired from politics after that experience, and published her autobiography, A Princess Remembers, written with Santha Rama Rau, in 1976. She was also the focus of the film Memoirs of a Hindu Princess, directed by Francois Levie.

There were rumors that she might re-enter politics as late as 1999, when the Cooch Behar Trinamool Congress nominated her as their candidate for the Lok Sabha elections, but she did not respond to the offer.^[2]

Her father Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur was the second son of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur and Maharani Sunity Devi of Cooch Behar. After the untimely death of his elder brother Maharaja Raj Rajendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, a bachelor, he ascended the throne of Cooch Behar in November 1913, few month's after his marriage with Princess Indira raje Gaekwad of Baroda. Jitendra Narayan's mother Maharani Sunity Devi was the daughjter of illustrious Brahmo social reformer Keshab Chandra Sen.

Gayatri Devi is related to a number of other royal families in India, and not only the Rajput royals. Her maternal grandparents were Maharaja Sayajirao and Maharani Chimnabai of Baroda. Through marriage, she was related to Maharaja Hanuwant Singh of Jodhpur, the Maharaja of Dewas, the Maharaja of Tripura, and the Maharaja of Pithapuram in South India.

She had one son, Maharaj Jagat Singh of Jaipur (erstwhile Raja of Isarda), and two grand children, Rajkumari Lalitaya Kumari and Maharaj Devraj Singh, the current Raja of Isarda. She is also indirectly related to the Maharaja of Lunawada and the Maharaol of Baria.

In 2006, India's first 3D documentary movie "Rajmata Gayatri Devi's Legacy", based on her life, was made by the students of Arena Multimedia in Jaipur. Rajmata herself inaugurated the movie through the medium of a digital art exhibition on 16th of November 2006. The documentary also contained some videos along with high-end 3D animation that were reconstructed according to the script developed from the book written by Dharmendra Kanwar. Sakshi Baid played the role of young Gayatri and Maharaja Mansingh's role was played by Tarun Gupta, who also directed the film. The narration was done by Rohan Malik. The dubbing for the animated character of rajmata was done by Mrs. Sarla Gupta. This thirty-minute-long documentary depicted her childhood, marriage, life in Jaipur, political life, and many other ups and downs of her life.