Introducing His Highness Shri Maharajadhiraj Sir Bhupinder Singh Bahadur.
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, born on 12 Oct 1891, ruled the princely state of Patiala in British India from 1900-1938. Beyond the lavish lifestyle that involved his private airstrip (the first Indian to ever own a private aircraft), his cricket and polo teams, and his 20 Rolls-Royce cars, the Maharaja had quite the sexual appetite. Apparently, his desire for sexy times far surpassed his love for food (he could allegedly consume 20 lbs of food a day).
He was known to have personally curated 350 concubines for his harem, which was remodeled to accommodate a laboratory wing to concoct new scents, lotions, cosmetics and philters in accordance to the Maharaja's ever-changing wants and needs. HH was also known to have had plastic surgeons alter his favorites' appearances based on the London Fashion Week's directives.
In Diwan Jermani Dass' scandalous book, "Maharaja", there even is an account for the numerous plastic surgeries conducted at his palace.
Some who had big, unshapely and bulging breasts were operated upon to reduce the size to make them symmetrical. Breasts were given a shape in accordance with the pattern suggested by the Maharaja. He, sometimes, wanted them ovate like an Alphonso mango and sometimes would request the French doctors to present him with a Peach! There were also regulations on the number of children allowed per woman. So, after bearing two children, women of the Moti Bagh Palace were ordered to have their tubes tied, and Colonel Hayes would do the needful.
From the many gripping, promiscuous tales, the one that stood out for me was of HH's orgy parties at the swimming pool.
The summer at Bhupinder's palace drew the harem residents and guests of the HH (150 in their numbers) to the pool. To make the heat bearable, huge ice blocks were thrown into the swimming pool. Floating upon these blocks, lay 50-60 female attendants in transparent swimming costumes, serving drinks and snacks to the guests. As the guests partied, danced, sang and flirted, there swam HH, who would occasionally resurface to either caress a breast or take a sip of whiskey.
Upon reviewing the book, "The Magnificent Maharaja", Khushwant Singh calls HH "a headstrong bully, a debauch, drunkard, womanizer and philanderer". He may have been called various other names that were synonymous to "Pervert" but the man did turn some heads.
HH introduced the New Age Tantra to India. He in fact ended up creating a cult inside his palace. Most of the young women invited were virgins, aged 12-16. The Maharaja was very particular about not inviting the older, learned women of the harem and any of his officials, as they were deemed intelligent enough to fathom the real purpose of the cult. Nonetheless, the cult was 300-400 strong with every meeting consisting of 150-200 attendees: two-thirds women and one-third men.
A spiritual savant and High Priest of Vam Margam (a Tantric group of worship), Pandit Prakash Nand Jha (commonly called Kaul) conducted these meetings clad in leopard skin, and often presented himself with a face painted in red and a shaved head except for a tuft of long hair right in the middle. The ceremony at these meetings would consist of Goddess worship, followed by naked women kneeling and bowing to the deity, buffalo sacrifices and consumption of huge amounts of alcohol. Many of these ceremonies required the participants to be highly intoxicated.
It was customary to pour down wine from the necks of these young women down to their breasts while the Maharaja and the other men awaited below, with their tongues out to taste the wine that trickled down the body. According to Kaul, this was the most sacred way to drink wine: it purifies the soul. The High Priest had also demanded that members of the cult should fornicate in front of the Goddess.
"Maharaja" by Diwan Jarmani Dass (who served as a Minister to the HH) also goes on to describe how those members who had too much liquor to drink and couldn't hold it in, were asked to vomit into the offerings' bowl kept at the Goddess' feet, while members participating in this show were prompted to take a sip from the very bowl.
Such was life at Moti Bagh Palace where there existed a Royal, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh who would even host an annual meet and greet with his loyal subjects whilst parading down the court room with nothing but a diamond studded (1001 white and blue diamonds) breast plate on and a proud erection for a "Hello!"
As he grew older, his libido diminished. From aphrodisiacs to concoctions to radium treatments, HH had tried it all. But none could solve his problem.
As Collins and Lapierre put it, "It was not a lack of virility that afflicted the jaded and sated prince... His was a malady that plagued not a few of his surfeited fellow rulers. It was boredom. He died of it."
Collins, L., Lapierre, D., (1997). Freedom At Midnight. Harper-Collins Publishers.
Dass, D. J. (1981). Maharaja. Allied Publishers Private Limited.
Singh, N.K. (2006). The Magnificent Maharaja. Harper-Collins Publishers.
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