An educationist, a social reformer, and a politician Rajmata Gayatri Devi was famous for her splendid beauty.
Her elegant chiffon sarees, no makeup, simplicity on the face, pearls or emeralds necklace, and sunglasses were her style statement. Sarees of Gayatri Devi were designed in the looms of Lyon in France. Her wardrobe was filled with soft pastel shades.
She was among the 10 most beautiful women in the world declared by a prominent international fashion magazine and by the famous photographer Cecil Beaton. People fondly called her Princess Ayesha. The Grande Dame of Romance, the late Barbara Cartland noted in her book Beauty & Health, “Ayesha Jaipur has been called the loveliest woman in the world”. She was a fashion icon in her adulthood.
Rajmata’s Childhood, Beautiful Marriage, and later life
Born in England on 23rd May 1919 Gayatri Devi was the fourth child among fve children born to Maharani Indira Devi and Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur of Cooch Behar. Rajmata’s childhood was quite joyful and carefree. She learned horse riding and tennis with the top coaches of the era.
Gayatri Devi was highly influenced by her mother Ma Cooch Behar but had hardly any remembrance of her father as he passed away when she was only three years old. After the death of her father Gayatri Devi’s family shifted to Cooch Behar and most of her education was completed there by the tutors hired to teach royal children. To imbibe the traditional Indian values and culture necessary for her, Rajmata was enrolled and went to Rabindranath Tagore’s School of Shantiniketan for a year in 1936. Later she finished her schooling in Switzerland.
Rajmata’s mother Maharani Indira Devi had many polo-playing friends and one of them was the Maharaja of Jaipur- His Highness Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II from Jaipur, Rajasthan. Their mutual interest in horses had Maharaja visiting the Cooch Behar whenever he was in Calcutta to play polo. Maharaja Sawai Man Singh and Gayatri Devi were fascinated by each other. They got married on 9th May 1940 and Gayatri Devi became the third wife of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh. After marriage when Gayatri Devi came to Jaipur, life was certainly very different from the one she was leading.
I acquired the sense of styling from my mother as she was the most fashionable, and most modern Maharanis ever.
- Gayatri Devi’s biggest contribution to the State of Rajasthan was to free women from the Purdah (Veil) system through education. She broke the stereotype of Indian Princesses hidden behind the Purdah
- Rajmata had a great contribution to women’s education. In 1943 for Rajput women, with only 21 students she started Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls School (MGD) in Jaipur. Due to Maharani’s credible efforts, it became the frst public school for girls in Asia. Today it is one of the fnest girls’ schools with students from all over India.
- She started schools for the handicapped and raised funds for the preservation of Jaipur City’s heritage.
- She worked immensely for the promotion of the local craft and revived the dying craft of Blue Pottery.
In that era, the Purdah (veil) system was strictly followed by Indian women. In contrast to the other two wives of Maharaja, Gayatri Devi was very forward and did not pursue the ritual of Purdah. Seeing her bold intellectual Maharani, Sawai Mansingh assigned her the task to demolish the Purdah system from the State.
Gayatri Devi also started Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya, popularly known as MSMSV, The Lalitya Bal Niketan, Ladies Club, and the Sawai Ram Singh Shilp Kala Mandir.
In 1949 Jaipur was integrated into the new union of Greater Rajasthan and Maharaja became Rajpramukh. Gayatri Devi gave birth to her only child Jagat in October 1949. Although Jaipur was no longer a princely State, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan declared a public holiday and cannons were fred to celebrate the birth of the little prince. Not only for her beauty people admired Gayatri Devi for her intelligence and audacious personification as well.
This gutsy woman in 1961 decided to form the Swatantra Party against the ruling Congress party. During the frst election in 1962, she won the constituency in the Lok Sabha by a margin of 3,50,000 votes, the highest ever in the world. Her victory was marked in the Guinness World Record as the largest landslide victory.
In 1967 the Swatantra party joined hands with Jan Sangh. The alliance won a large number of seats in the 1967 election. In the assembly polls, Gayatri Devi lost to Damodar Lal Vyas, in the Malpura constituency, but won the Lok Sabha election. Her party did not win a majority as they did not contest for all the seats.
On 24th June 1970 Maharaja Sawai Man Singh had a massive heart attack and died while playing polo in England. It was a heart- breaking tragedy which changed the life of Maharani Gayatri Devi. From Maharani she was elevated to the title of Rajmata and her eldest step-son Bhawani Singh became Maharaja of Jaipur. In 1971 Rajmata was re- elected to Parliament.
The Dark Era of the Royal Family
In 1975 the dark period started for her. An emergency was declared. On 30th July 1975 Rajmata Gayatri Devi was arrested and spent five months in Tihar Jail also. However, she was a bold and composed lady who never showed her tears and pain in public. After her release from prison, she kept a low profile and focused on her social activities. In 1977 there was a change of Government and Rajmata was nominated as the Chairperson of Rajasthan Tourism Development Cooperation (RTDC). With her serious efforts, she performed her duties and renovated many tourist bungalows that came under her supervision.
As a great loss, her son died at the age of 48 due to a liver ailment. Rajmata was an unusual lady who faced the ups and downs of her journey with strength and pride. At the age of 90 on 29th July 2009 she died in Jaipur. Rajmata lived every minute of her life as a real fighter.
