Remembering The Rajmata of Jaipur - Maharani Gayatri Devi on her Death Anniversary

Today in History | July 29, 2009

One of India's most unconventional and progressive maharani, Gayatri Devi was simply grace personified. 

Her enchanting beauty, elegant personality and stunning looks in her sarees and sometimes in khaki pants made the Vogue magazine to name her as one of the most beautiful women in the world in year 1960.

To this she said: “I really don’t think so. Style comes naturally to me. I guess you’re just born with it. My mother has been my role model and icon. When I was young, I watched her dress. Ma was very fussy about her clothes. Did you know, she was the first person to start wearing saris made of chiffons? But her greatest passion was for shoes. She had hundreds of pairs and still went on ordering them from Ferragamo in Florence. She always knew the best place to buy anything and she shopped all over the world. I guess, I learned about style from her. She taught me all about style. Life was more glamorous in the olden days, a lot has changed now.”

Born and married in royalty, she lived a marvelous life yet calling herself an ordinary woman. In 1942, she married Sawai Man Singh II (also known as Sawai Jai Singh). It was not a traditional arranged marriage but rather an outcome of her love for the Jaipur Maharaja. In her memoir, A Princess Remembers, she mentioned how there were gossips around their relationship. In fact, people warned her mother that life as a third Maharani would be tough but Jai and Ayesha, as they were popularly known, were the perfect couple.

"Looking back, I see that those times were much more ahead than an ordinary approved courtship would have been. There was the challenge of outwitting our elders, of arranging secret meetings... And every now and again, there was a marvellous, unheard of liberty of going for a drive in the country with Jai, of a stolen dinner at Bray, or of an outing on the river in a boat. It was a lovely and intoxicating time", she told Times of India in an interview in 2009.

She defied traditional restrictions to explore a life without barriers. She did everything unconventional whether it was riding horses, going for hunting, playing polo, driving cars or fighting elections.

She had a successful political career and was a well-known public figure. She won the Jaipur constituency in 1962 Lok Sabha elections with such huge majority - 192,909 votes out of 246,516 cast - that it made it to the Guinness Book of World Records. She won Lok Sabha again in 1967 and 1971. Hearing of her achievement, American President John F. Kennedy introduced her as "...the woman with most staggering majority that anyone has ever earned in an election."

Gayatri Devi was arrested and imprisoned in Tihar Jail in 1975 during the emergency by the then Indira Gandhi government, depriving her of the royal privileges, for contesting election against Congress party as a contestant from Swatantra party. Despite such tragedies, she emerged as a dignified and ultimate winner due to her positive attitude. Even when she got out, she went on to fight for the rights of the inmates who were living in filthy conditions in the prison. 

Born into luxury, Gayatri Devi used her wealth to help the needy and downtrodden. She funded and supervised a lot of charitable project and worked towards upliftment of women & children. 

She opened girls’ school in Jaipur to educate and empower women, most prominent of which is 'Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls' school' founded in 1943. She helped revive the lost art of 'Blue Pottery' by promoting it. She unconditionally supported and contributed to all activities in Jaipur from jewellery show to vintage car rallies. She was approachable and kam even contested elections and became the voice of her people.

She inspired courage in many Indian women to become independent and abolish the ‘purdah’ system and other social restrictions.

She was so fond of cars that she was the first person to import the Mercedes-Benz W126 to India, which was later shipped to Malaysia. She was also the owner of several Rolls-Royce and even an aircraft.

Gayatri Devi's mother Indira Devi initially named her Ayesha inspired by the protagonist of a Rider Haggard’s novel. Some time after her birth, Indira Devi's muslim friend told her that Ayesha is a Islamic name so she was given a Hindu name - Gayatri. She was still called Ayesha by her close friends and family as it remained her nickname.

The trend of the chiffon saree and pearls look that many royal women prefer nowadays was apparently started by Gayatri Devi.

Born in 1919, Gayatri Devi aged gracefully and lived for 90 years before leaving us in 2009. This glamorous Princess of her era became one of India's most admired royals, a legend, for her unparalled beauty, ambition and elegance. She will live on forever as an inspiration for the generations to come.