Clashes At Udaipur Palace Gates Over New Maharana's Face-Off With Cousin

Udaipur witnessed a row in the erstwhile royal family on Monday after the coronation of BJP MLA Vishvaraj Singh Mewar as the 77th Maharana of Mewar. A stand-off with his cousin Dr Lakshay Raj Singh Mewar followed at the gates of the historic city palace after Mr Singh was refused entry into the palace, which is now run by a trust managed by his cousin and uncle Shreeji Arvind Singh Mewar. The row it sparked escalated as the day progressed. Post-10 pm, the MLA's supporters started throwing stones and attempted to storm the palace gates. Others are retaliating from inside the palace. Visuals from palace gates show stones landing from both sides and police trying to control the mob. Three persons were injured.

Reports say Vishvaraj Singh also stood with his supporters at the spot for five hours last night. The district administration has now decided to intervene.

Vishvaraj Singh -- the BJP MLA from Rajsamand from where his wife Mahima Kumari is the sitting MP -- was formally declared the heir to the Mewar dynasty at a traditional coronation ceremony in the historic Chittorgarh fort 12 days after the death of his father Mahendra Singh Mewar.

The coronation ceremony, conducted by priests who performed pujas and did a havan, saw Vishwaraj's raj tilak done by an erstwhile noble who slashed his finger on a sword and anointed him in blood. This is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years in the Mewar dynasty, which traces its lineage back to Bappa Rawal in the 8th Century. Its most famous royal was Rana Pratap, who fought the Mughals in the battle of Haldi Ghati.

After the symbolic coronation, Mr Singh had decided to take the blessings from family deities -- the Dhooni mata temple inside the city palace and the Ekling Shiv temple about 50 kilometres from Udaipur. But since both temples are run by the trust, he was denied entry into the city palace. The administration had tried to persuade the Museum Trust to allow not the entire procession, but a few erstwhile nobles to accompany Vishwaraj Singh into the palace for darshan.

Anticipating trouble, the police had set up barricades and deployed additional personnel in the area around the city palace gates. But when Mr Singh was denied entry into the palace, his enraged supporters broke barricades and tried to get close to the city palace gates.

"The situation that we see today is unfortunate," Vishvaraj Singh told media persons. "I am grateful for your support. On one side are properties, but there are also traditions where we seek blessings. This is wrong as far as traditions and society norms are concerned," he added.

The new generation of Mewar royals has been involved in a legal dispute over palaces, temples and forts that are now run and managed by nine trusts. All these trusts are handled by the uncle and cousin of Vishvaraj Singh.

Early this morning, the Maharana Mewar Charitable Trust published in the local newspapers that they would not allow anyone to enter the trust premises as they anticipated that this could be done with the intention to trespass on and damage trust properties.  

The dispute goes back to 1984, when the former Maharana of Mewar Bhagwat Singhji made his younger son Arvind Singh the director of the trusts, effectively ousting the elder son Mahendra Singh from the royal properties. 

As the stand-off continues in Udaipur, this is a royal row that's going to echo in the City of Lakes for some time.