In awe of the late ‘king’

For Shital Mehta, her homage to Maharaja Ranjitsinh Gaekwad was her way to show respect to the man. "I have come here in respect of him. Our Maharaja was admired across the globe and thus I wanted to be a part of the funeral procession," said Mehta, who was at the palace grounds with her daughter on Friday. 

Thousands of others like her spent the entire day in the unrelenting sun to bid farewell to the Maharaja, walking the two kilometres to Kirti Mandir, cremation grounds of the royal family.

Meanwhile people like Dhwani Contractor stood along this path for nearly two hours to offer their floral tribute.

"It wasn't easy but we had to; after all he was our Maharaja, whose family is credited for the hospital," said Contractor, who works as a nurse with Shantadevi Hospital, named after Ranjitsinh's late mother.

The 15,000-odd people who paid tribute to Ranjitsinh also include medical students like Gunjal Thakkar, who wanted to understand funeral procession of royal families.