India Day 5: Leaving Ghanerao
Ghanerao Royal Castle
This morning we left Ghanerao’s Royal Castle where we had been staying, but only after spending 30 minutes or so talking with the Queen who had just returned home. She is a fascinating person who explained her fight to protect the fragile local ecosystem against a syndicate of local hoteliers who think that introducing 4 tigers to the forest will improve tourism and line their pockets. In reality it will drive the ancient indigenous tribes from their forest homes and destabilize one of the few remaining habitats for the leopard.. This is a country where men & money seem to make the rules, not intellect or common sense.
From Ghanerao the whole day we headed west into Gujarat, towards the Pakistan border area. By nightfall we had reached a place called Radhanpur where we have taken rooms for the night. The journey resumes at dawn.
Could you explain more about the Queen ~ does she rule like the UK monarchy or are there various Royal families over different areas?
Sounds like you are having a most interesting time away ~ how did you choose where to go and what inspired you to call in on the Queen?
I chose where to go based on which different tribes still exist in Rajasthan. It is immediately apparent, as it has been everywhere else i’ve been in India, that the traditional ways are vanishing far too quickly.
We chose the Royal Castle as it is now open as a Heritage Hotel, and a super cool building dating back hundreds of years. The Queen no longer holds legal power of the community, (since 1969 i believe), but she does have a lot of political influence and her role, as she humbly described it, is as custodian of the land.