A successful conclusion of the Guide orientation programme held in June 2013 has only made all the guides want more. Eternal Mewar thanks all the participants for their keen interest and unadulterated support. Here’s sharing acknowledgements from some of them.
Today on the 7th of June, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation organised a seminar for tour guides on the architecture of Mewar by Sh. Vishnu Prakash Mali. He spoke on the architecture of temples and palaces of Mewar. It was very useful and knowledgeable for us. We are thankful to MMCF and Dr. Vishnu Prakash Mali for organizing this.
- Mukesh Sen
An excellent lecture by Shri Narayan Lal ji Sharma on ‘Maharana Pratap and Geographical Location of Mewar’ in relation to various battles fought by Maharana Pratap. Truly a great guidance, which has reinforced my knowledge on the above subject.
- Pratap Singh Sardargarh
It was great to get information on Miniature Style and Painting. Information from Sh. Rajaram Vyas and Th. Sb. Bhupendra Singh Auwa was worthy and much appreciated. We look forward to attending such seminars in future to stay informed.
- Jeevan Singh Sarangdevot
An immaculate review of ancient Mewar on basis of excavation was very impressive. It really was pleasure to listen through it. Very well explained in a lively and interactive environment. We are thankful to MMCF for giving us this opportunity.
- Jaimini Shastri
The House of Mewar and its Maharanas have always lived upto the values of integrity and honesty. All the reigns have seen their Maharanas safeguarding their heritage with utmost love and responsibility. So is seen with Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar, the 76th Custodian of Mewar in all his actions and teachings.
Shriji’s guidance percolates in the initiatives by MMCF to contribute towards Responsible Tourism in Rajasthan. As part of this initiative, MMCF conducts a Guide Orientation Programme each year in the summer under which it imparts extensive knowledge to the tour guides on the History of Mewar and the lineage, Architecture, Culture and the Heritage. This keeps the guides informed which further ensures correct information reaching our guests in Mewar. On the other hand, it generates confidence and excitement amongst the tour guides about their city while adding to their resume.
For this summer, the programme commenced on 24th May with different topics every Friday for 6 weeks between 11 a.m. to 12 noon in the COMPO Conference hall. What’s included is an interesting orientation with the Cuisine of Mewar. With much more knowledge sharing planned for this summer, we will keep you posted with the latest on this programme. So keep reading and sharing your thoughts with us. As responsible tourists, you are invited to suggest topics for this orientation programme. If your suggestion gets picked, you’re in for a treat! So get writing and leave us your suggestions in the comment box.
MMCF had organized a Guide orientation programme on 9th June 2012 at MMCF Conference Hall, The City Palace Complex, Udaipur. The guide orientation programme is a step towards fulfilling the MMCF's objective. The main agenda of this programme is to create awareness and educate the guides of The City Palace Museum, Udaipur about the history of Mewar and other topics related to Environment conservation, which in turn will lead to the guides disseminating correct information to the tourists. MMCF plans to conduct such workshops regularly in the future.
The programme on the 9th June 2012 was conducted by Dr. Chandra Shekhar Sharma, Historian on the topic Maharana Pratap: A National Hero. 18 guides attended the programme. He explained the guides about various strategies Maharana Pratap used for survival. It was an interactive session where he answered the queries put up by the guides on topics related to Pratap's childhood; relation with father; physical appearance; etc.
He highlighted Maharana Pratap as the embodiment of courage, self-respect, patriotism and the spirit of independence, is the name of a glorious and immense character. The great Maharana has been immortalized in India. He will always be remembered in the annals of history as the very first freedom fighter who struggled for the independence of his motherland and the preservation of moral values. He died fighting for the nation, for his people and most importantly for his honour.
His enlightening deeds will always continue to shine brightly in the mind, heart and soul guiding the generations of Indian people. He has been remembered as an “elemental spirit of India” for his heroism asceticism and sacrifice in the entire history of mankind. He had the valour and daring of his forefathers and was conscious of inherited ancestral glory, liberalism and generosity.
The programme on 16th was conducted by Mr. Manish Soni, on "Locating Mewar Paintings in Indian Art". Manish Soni is a young representative from a family of traditional painters is practicing miniature painters since his childhood. He has exhibited his works and has conducted painting workshops and demonstrations in a number of institutions and art galleries, recent notable ones are at Museum Reitberg, Zurich; Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Grand Hyatt, Mumbai; Dogra Museum, Jammu.
He has also worked as the art director of a special movie made on the famous 18th Century Pahari Artist 'Nainsukh'; the movie entitles: 'Nainsukh-delight of the eye'. This feature film was selected and nominated in the Venice film festival. He also played role of Nainsukh in the movie.
In the programme he briefed in length about various forms of Indian art with special focus on Indian paintings and he contextualized Mewar paintings within a larger scenario. He also discussed various aspects of painting like materials, technique and symbolism. Taking in consideration The City Palace Museum building he threw light upon different visual references like murals, paintings and other aspects like plaster 'aarish' etc.
Friday, June 22nd 2012, The City Palace Museum, Udaipur Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation as a part of its Guide Orientation Programme invited Mr. Satyendra Singh Chawda to address the guides on the do’s and don’ts of guiding.
A group of 15 guides attended the session. Mr. Chawda has been in the travel and trade business since a very long time and has immense experience when it comes to dealing with tourists along with a lot of knowledge on the history of Mewar.
He started the lecture with explaining the guides the importance of knowledge in the guiding profession. “Knowledge is a weapon by which a guide can arm himself to ultimately satisfy the tourists” said Mr. Chawda. While mentioning the importance of knowledge he emphasized on how it is critical for the guides to give correct information to the tourists and not exaggerate and try and make a story interesting by putting wrong information.
He pointed out that guides are the face of the city for tourists and hence their role is extremely important in building the reputation of the city as a whole and in order to do so the guides must follow certain standards while they are with the tourists. Few of the critical points which he mentioned were the dressing sense of the guides.
He said that they should be formally dressed while they are guiding as the first impression is the last impression. He also laid emphasis on the aspect of politeness, correct and a positive attitude, command over language, eye contact and the confidence to answer questions truthfully. According to Mr. Chawda all these are essential qualities any guide should have.
Quoting a verse from the Geeta, Mr. Chawda emphasized upon how one should have focus while doing any job. Hence according to him a guide should be focused while talking to the guests and should know what he is talking about. He should assess the interest level of the guest and try and speak about the subjects in which the tourist seems most interested.
On Friday, June 29th 2012, Dr. Shreekrishna Jugnu, Maharana Kumbha Awardee 2008 addresses the guides on Mewar ka vastu - shilp shastra ko yogdaan. A group of 21 guides attended the session.
On 6th July 2012, Dr Mahesh Sharma spoke on the topic, 'Water Resource Management'.
Dr. Mahesh Sharma is one of the most respected names in Environment, Photography and Tourism in Udaipur. Though, serving as a Senior Lecturer of Commerce, Business Administration at Govt. Meera Girls PG College, Udaipur. Mr. Sharma is also a passionate Photographer and a well renowned Environmentalist.His sincerity for life and love for Udaipur and its lakes gives him enough energy to do some of the toughest tasks.
Born in Amet and did schooling over there. In 1970s his family shifted to Udaipur and he pursued B. Com from B.N. College and M.Com from M.B. College. He is capturing the Gangaur Festival from past 18-20 years with an objective that this is the only festival which belongs to Udaipur or in other words this is our own festival. The picture being used by R.T.D.C. for Gangaur is also taken by him about 8 or 10 years ago. Esteemed news papers and magazines like Rajasthan Patrika, Dainik Bhasker, Times of India and Timeout Jaipur have used his services and Rajasthan State Tourism Department is his permanent client. He likes to write on topics helpful in development of community like Tourism, Environment and Women empowerment etc.
