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Chairman of the Trustees,
Mr. Paul Ruddock;
Director of V&A,
Mr. Mark Jones;
Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,
I am delighted to have been invited for the formal inauguration of Victoria & Albert’s exhibition “Maharaja: the Splendour of India’s Royal Courts”. I must confess at the very outset that I have had the privilege of a sneak preview of this magnificent exhibition while it was being set up.
Let me begin by thanking those that have contributed to the making of this exhibition and those who have so painstakingly put it together.
The exhibition reflects a microcosm of India’s history. But more importantly, it is a reminder of the very rich heritage of India, be it in the arts, architecture, culture or religion. It also reflects how certain segments of Indian society reacted to the then changing circumstances of the political and security environment around them. What is however, most important is the fact that much of this tradition and heritage continues to endure in India in spite of the quantum leap that we have since made in our economic and social development and evolution; a process which is still in the making and very much work in progress. It is this that we proudly call “tradition in modernity” in India.
The cultural linkages between our two countries, India and the United Kingdom, go back more than 200 years. We have shared history and our civilisations and cultures have impacted each other enormously. The latter is reflected in today’s India and today’s UK. It is once again a process that continues and is a long way from playing itself out.
The exhibition that you are about to witness displays over 200 exquisite objects, some of them loaned for the very first time from the personal collections of some of the former Maharajas of Princely India. We are thankful to them for their special contribution. The V&A and our own Nehru Centre have worked very closely together in putting up this exhibition. I trust this will be the harbinger of much greater collaboration between us in the years ahead so that we can together project other aspects both of our common history and our cooperation in contemporary times.
Once again, our congratulations and thanks to all those who have helped put together this marvellous exhibition.
I am very pleased now to announce that this exhibition is officially open.
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