Chandelao lies 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the city of Jodhpur, and Chandelao Garh (Fort) is situated in this peaceful village. Chandelao is home to about 1700 people who mainly live by farming livestock and growing grains.
For more about Chandelao and the Chandelao Garh Hotel, visit www.chandelao.com.
Rajasthan was divided into nineteen kingdoms, each ruled by a Maharajah. A brave Rajput was bestowed the noble title of Thakur. The Thakur was given control over a part of the land in the kingdom, and established his own mini-kingdom, ruled from a fort or a palace. In return he supplied cavalry - horses, camels and warriors - to fight the wars for the Maharajah. Chandelao was one such, and the ancestor of the original Thakur lives today in Chandelao Garh.
Less than a tenth of the population of Rajasthan are descended from the Rajputs. Among the others we will find all kinds of castes, from high caste priests to low caste sweepers. Each caste had their duties, and their lives were closely interlinked with that of the nobility; the farmers cultivated the land belonging to the Thakur in return for a share of the harvest; each Thakur family had its own priests who performed the sacred rituals in the palaces; the clan of musicians entertained the nobility, playing even on the battlefields.
Today Rajasthan is peaceful and filled with the romance of bygone eras. Even though land reforms have removed much wealth and power from the hands of the Maharajas and the Thakurs, social structures from the past are still prevalent. The Maharajah still lives in his palace in Jodhpur; the Thakurs try to maintain their forts, and often hold positions of great influence in the villages. Villages are still divided into castes, and the common man in many ways still lives as his forefathers did.
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