It rained royalty Last Thursday at the Jehangir Art Gallery as The Gaekwad Art Foundation (TGAF) hosted a special preview for an exhibition titled “A Mystical Odyssey.” A Trust set up by Princess Asha Raje Gaekwad of the Baroda Royal Family, TGAF aims to promote Indo-Nepal joint-multicultural programs by creating a platform for promising talent to be exposed on a larger scale.
The exhibition featured the art works of 4 of Nepal’s most prolific Artists – Kiran Manandhar, Uma Shankar, Dr. Seema Shah and Manish Lal Shrestha. It was inaugurated by HH Dr. Karan Singh of Kashmir.
All families hailing from Baroda, Kashmir and Nepal came together to support this initiative and so did a host of other prominent guests. Princess Asha Raje’s daughter in law Praggyshree Raje Gaekwad who played a significant role in organizing this show was accompanied by husband Yuvraj Pratap Sinh Gaekwad. Others hailing from the royal family included Yuvraj Vikramaditya Singh with daughter Mriganka and Mr. & Mrs Jitendra Gaekwad,
Other guests included Laxman Shreshtha, Simon Tata, Dino Morea, Haseena Jethmalani, Renu Chainani, Penny and Sanjeev Patel, Kelly Dorjee, Arti and Rahul Raichand, Nisha Jamwal and Riyad Kundanmal and Parvez Damania.
*As Adit noticed, yup Dino and Kelly in the same room, no word on their interaction but I’m guessing in the presence of royalty even cold wars cool off!
Didjya Know?
Apart from being chivalrous warriors and able administrators, the Gaekwad dynasty of 15 kings popularly known as “Gurjar Naresh” ruled over Gujarat for almost 3 centuries, and pioneered the proliferation of different Arts symbolizing the coming of an age of peace, luxury, prosperity, enlightenment and good living.