The head of Kachwaha clan of Rajputs, Singh was admitted to hospital on March 29. The body of the 80-year-old maharaja reached Jaipur at 10.30 am on Sunday. He will be cremated with full state honours on Monday. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot announced two days of state mourning.
Government offices and schools in Jaipur will remain closed on Monday. The City Palace will remain shut for visitors for three days.
``He had served the Army. It was due to his great courage during the 1971 India-Pakistan war that he was awarded Mahavir Chakra,'' Gehlot said after paying tribute at Chandra Mahal in City Palace where Singh's body is lying in state.
Ministers Bina Kak and AA Khan, chief secretary S Ahmad, Army officers and common people were among those who paid their last respects. People can pay their respects on Monday between 8 am and 10 am. The funeral procession will begin at 11 am from the City Palace. The last rites will be conducted at Gaitor Cenotaph.
``He was a warrior and fought till the last. He did not utter a word of protest during his treatment,'' said his son-in-law Narendra Singh. He who was with the maharaja during his last days in the hospital. ``He wanted someone from the family to serve in the Army. When my son was born, he would buy him things related to the Army,'' he said.
Brigadier Bhawani Singh had adopted his grandson Padmanabh Singh. Eldest son of his daughter Diya Kumari, Padmanabh was chosen his heir on November 22, 2002. Bhawani Singh is survived by his wife Padmini Devi, daughter Diya Kumari, her son Lakshraj and daughter Gauravi Kumari.
Bhawani Singh served as the ruler of Jaipur from June 24, 1970 after the death of his father Sawai Man Singh II. The President of India had recognised him as the successor and ruler of Jaipur and issued a notification. But Singh could serve as a maharaja for only a few months as the Indira Gandhi government abolished royal titles in 1971.
Bhawani Singh was Rajmata Gayatri Devi's step son. He was 13 when his mother died. Gayatri Devi had consoled him during the mourning period and prepared him to perform his mother's last rites. When Rajmata died in 2009, he brought her body to the City Palace and performed the last rites.
Bhawani Singh, a colonel in the Army, had opted for voluntary retirement in 1974. When the Indian Army was sent to Sri Lanka for Operation Pawan, he went to that country to boost the morale of the jawans after the then President and prime minister requested him. For this, the President, in a rare gesture, bestowed on him the rank of Brigadier even though he was a retired officer.
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