‘It’s time to look beyond the golden triangle’

Akshita M Bhanj Deo

, descendant of the Bhanj Deo dynasty that ruled the princely state of

Mayurbhanj

before it joined the Indian Union in 1949, wears many hats. She promotes sustainable tourism and works as an archivist to preserve and digitize the records held by her family. The 26-year-old speaks to TOI’s Amava Bhattacharya

On growing up in a ‘royal’ family

I grew up in Kolkata but would travel to Mayurbhanj often. It was there that I realized that my family was different. Even in Kolkata, the way our staff treated us and the formality of the rules we had to observe made me realize that there was something different. The code of conduct in our house was much more formal than that in my friends’ houses. We would wake up and do ‘juhar’ to my grandparents and parents and then start our day.

On the challenges of being ‘princess of Mayurbhanj’ in today’s India

I never saw it as a point of privilege. After Independence, most of the former royal families went into distress sales because they could no longer afford the upkeep of their mansions or estates. The same happened with us. Even when we were growing up, we heard stories of loss. We have our own professional lives and the pressures they bring. In addition, we have a very public life in Mayurbhanj where we are fighting cases against the government or against other family members or attending functions or interacting with the community. It is a difficult juggling act. I think it was harder for our parents to adjust to this new world as they had been brought up amid an even more rigid set of rules. We are self-made but we also want to make our legacy relevant to the present time.

On making her heritage an entrepreneurial success story

My sister and I, with the help of our parents, threw open our home, the 200-year-old

Belgadia Palace

in Mayurbhanj, to visitors. We take our guests around and manage the day-to-day affairs of the palace ourselves. We were lucky to have this legacy bequeathed to us and we want to share it with everyone. This is what it means to be a ‘royal’ today. We are custodians of a legacy, nothing more. We are in touch with four-five families that want to open up their houses but they are in different stages of readiness. Rajasthan understood this type of tourism very well.

On digitizing the documents related to the reign of the Bhanj rulers

To be honest, the digitizing process is not going as fast and as well as it should. Ideally, a curator should come in and help us digitize these documents that record the dynasty as well as the makings of modern India. Many of the photographs we inherited have been damaged. We are taking photos of photos in sealed frames but that’s not the best way of going about it.

On giving back to the community

In Mayurbhanj, there already existed a very strong notion of community development. So a percentage of the funds we generate through the Belgadia Palace goes back into the community. We have an artists’ residency in Belgadia, which is the first such in the east. All the staff at Belgadia are locals, trained by my sister and me. We’ve got a reat response from the people of Odisha.

On tourism moving beyond the golden triangle of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar-Puri

I think the golden triangle is beautiful but saturated. It is time to look beyond these areas and focus on unexplored destinations such as Mayurbhanj. It is our lack of understanding of tribal communities that makes us ignore these stunning parts of India. We need to see India through their eyes, not gawk at them. We travel to New Zealand to see the Maori tribes or Africa to meet the Masais, so why not in India? We need to sit down with them and ask them what their monuments are, how they live their lives. We also need to rope in young entrepreneurs to boost the tourism scene because the state is so blessed otherwise.