Udaipur bids tearful adieu to ex-royal Arvind Singh Mewar

Udaipur: The streets of Udaipur were full of teary eyed residents as they bid adieu to Arvind Singh Mewar, member of the former royal family of Udaipur and chairman of the HRH Group of Hotels, who was cremated Monday. His son, Lakshyaraj Singh, performed the last rites. Nathdwara MLA and Mewar's nephew Vishvaraj Singh attended the funeral.
A descendant of Rajput king Maharana Pratap, the 81-year-old died at his residence Sunday after a prolonged illness. The mortal remains of Mewar were brought out from his residence Shambhu Niwas in the City Palace in the morning for people to pay their tributes, while Lakshyaraj stood there with his son Haritraj.
His final journey began around 11am from his residence Monday. An emotional Lakshyaraj could be seen embracing his two sisters. The procession passed through Badi Pol, Jagdish Chowk, Ghantaghar, Bada Bazaar and Delhi Gate before reaching the cremation site, ‘Mahasatiya.'
As the procession moved through the city, crowds gathered on the streets to pay their last respects. The traders voluntarily closed their shops that were on the route of the funeral procession.
A controversy had erupted on Nov 10 last year, after the death of Mahendra Singh Mewar (Vishvaraj Singh's father and Arvind Singh Mewar's elder brother), when Lakshyaraj prevented Vishvaraj from entering the City Palace. The deadlock ended after chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma intervened and Vishvaraj was allowed to enter the palace to visit ‘dhuni' to offer prayers to the family deity.
This time all eyes were on Vishvaraj and Lakshyaraj. After the cremation, Vishvaraj and Lakshyaraj folded their hands as mark of respect for each other. Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria, former cricketer and member of the former royal family of Jamnagar Ajay Jadeja, poet and actor Shailesh Lodha, Sheo (Barmer) MLA Ravindra Singh Bhati, district collector Namit Mehta, Udaipur SP Yogesh Goyal and others visited the City Palace to express their condolences.