Jaswant Thada - A cenotaph on the hill of Mehrangarh.
A Jaswant Thada was built in the early 1900's as a memorial to Jaswant
Singh II, 33rd Rathore ruler of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. It is half a
mile from Mehrengarh Fort in Jodhpur. This photograph, taken around 9:00
a.m. on December 31st, 1997, by one of Mr. Diora's assistants (Mr. Diora
is the semi-offical visual chronicler of the Court of Marwar a.k.a.
Jodhpur), depicts the current Maharaja of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh II, on his
50th birthday along with his entourage. I am at the foot of the steps in a
tan coat with my back to the camera (in front of the man with the light
blue pants) and my own video camera framed over the shoulder of Mr. Diora
who is taking the primary photograph of the posing ritual. Part of my work
was to document the documenters, that is, the indigenous representations
of the rituals and festivals surrounding the Maharaja's 50th birthday
celebration. These included posing rituals which have their own history
parallel to the histories of the other rituals of the court. Behind my
right shoulder, my colleague Bruce Broce, also a graduate student at
Temple, holds a radio receiver high in the air while recording the small
talk surrounding the Maharaja as everyone puts on their photo faces and
assumes their postures. What has been translated so far of the audio is a
rich tapestry of formal talk and informal joke telling and commentary.
A Jaswant Thada was built in the early 1900's as a memorial to Jaswant
Singh II, 33rd Rathore ruler of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. It is half a
mile from Mehrengarh Fort in Jodhpur. This photograph, taken around 9:00
a.m. on December 31st, 1997, by one of Mr. Diora's assistants (Mr. Diora
is the semi-offical visual chronicler of the Court of Marwar a.k.a.
Jodhpur), depicts the current Maharaja of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh II, on his
50th birthday along with his entourage. I am at the foot of the steps in a
tan coat with my back to the camera (in front of the man with the light
blue pants) and my own video camera framed over the shoulder of Mr. Diora
who is taking the primary photograph of the posing ritual. Part of my work
was to document the documenters, that is, the indigenous representations
of the rituals and festivals surrounding the Maharaja's 50th birthday
celebration. These included posing rituals which have their own history
parallel to the histories of the other rituals of the court. Behind my
right shoulder, my colleague Bruce Broce, also a graduate student at
Temple, holds a radio receiver high in the air while recording the small
talk surrounding the Maharaja as everyone puts on their photo faces and
assumes their postures. What has been translated so far of the audio is a
rich tapestry of formal talk and informal joke telling and commentary.