22-04-2025
Elephants in silver ornaments, folk dancers welcome Vance family to Amber Fort as US Vice President goes sightseeing in Jaipur
When the people of Hathi Gaon in Jaipur heard they were about to host US Vice President J D Vance, they knew exactly what to do – bring out the silver ornaments famously used when former US President Bill Clinton was in town 25 years ago.
Vance, his wife Usha, and their three children visited Amber Fort, about 10 km from Jaipur city, on Tuesday morning. There, they were greeted by two elephants – Chanda and Pushpa – adorned with the silver ornaments. The ornaments inclduded paajeb (anklets), kantha (necklace), mukut (head piece), kangoje (earrings), sher ki jhool (silver embroidered cloth covering the elephant) and audha (the seat on the elephant), said Ballu Khan, president of Hathi Gaon development committee and one of the mahouts of the elephants. Hathi Gaon is an area near Amber Fort where elephants are housed and cared for.
'These ornaments are taken out only on special occasions on the requests of the government. These are ornaments that are provided to us by the former Maharaja of Jaipur and we have been keeping them since then,' Ballu Khan told The Indian Express.
At Amber Fort, the Vance family also saw folk artists, who performed the Kachhi Ghori, Ghoomar and Kalbelia dances.
After this, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari met Vance and family.
The Second Family of United States spent one-and-a-half hours at Amber Fort, and visited various parts of the massive complex made of different materials, including sandstone, marble and yellow stone.
They visited the Diwan-e-Aam, Ganesh Pol, Sheesh Mahal and Man Singh Mahal in the fort.
At 11.30 am, they left the fort and went back to the Rambagh Palace Hotel, where they are staying.
The US Vice President is on a four-day visit to India. He reached Delhi on Monday, and after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he visited the Akshardham temple in the national capital. He reached Jaipur at 9.30 pm Monday.
