It was the season of love and celebration as four blue-blooded young people got engaged to each other, and the Avadh talukdaaris of Pratapgarh and Khajurgaon celebrated the engagement of their children.
Princess Mriganka Kumari of Pratapgarh got engaged to Tika Raja Kamakhya Pratap Singh Judeo of Alipura at the latter’s residence.
A honey farmer who helms a self-help group of women farmers retailing the divinest of honeys under her brand, Pratapgarh Collective, Mriganka looked happy when next to her husband-to-be.
Her label brings a variety of artisanal honey, bee-to-bottle, and farm-to-table products.
Linking the farming of honey to women’s empowerment, she works tirelessly both through the family-run NGO and herself to empower the rural denizens who have resided in Pratapgarh for generations. Pratapgarh Collective’s raw flower honey comes from a single source of nectar visited by bees.
Meanwhile, Kamakhya Pratap Singh is active in Madhya Pradesh politics and works under his father,
Rao Bahadur Raja Manvendra Singh Judeo, 11th and present Raja Saheb of Alipura, member legislative assembly, Madhya Pradesh.
Their Alipura Palace is converted into a beautiful boutique heritage property owned by Rani Brijraj Kumari, daughter of the Rao Saheb of Kundla.
Princess Katyayani Sinh of Sanand gets engaged to Kunwar Shivraj Singh of Khajurgaon, an entrepreneur and scion of one of the leading Talukdaaris of Oudh. An entrepreneur, he works closely with his parents, Raja Amresh Kumar Singh and Rani Abha Singh, to host experiential evenings at the Khajoorgaon House in the heart of Lucknow. One of the oldest estates of the former Kingdom of Awadh, the Khajoorgaon family is known for their delectable cuisine and their insight into the rich repository of Avadh’s sufiana lkalam and kathak. Young and pretty Katyayani, meanwhile, is a lawyer and an artist whose art is unique.
Shooting beautiful portraits of the shephards and tribals who dot her state of Sanand, she then embellishes her prints with strips of hand-woven textiles from Gujarat. Almost like a modern version of the decorous Raja Ravi Verma prints.
She is the granddaughter of the celebrated musician Jaiwant Singhji Vaghela of Sanand, who was the Guru of Pandit Jasraj.
Also known as Sanand Bapu, he was a classical vocalist, benkar, and musicologist belonging to the Mewati gharana. His legacy includes contributions to compositions (performed and recorded famously by Pandit Maniram and Pandit Jasraj).
