President Droupadi Murmu arrives in Gwalior, heads for Jai Vilas Palace

BHOPAL: President Droupadi Murmu arrived in Gwalior on a daylong trip to Madhya Pradesh and headed for the Jai Vilas Palace here to visit the Jiwajirao Scindia Museum.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan welcomed Murmu at the Gwalior airport, official sources said.

Murmu along with her entourage then reached the Jai Vilas Palace where Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, his wife Priyadarshini Raje Scindia and son Mahanaryaman Scindia welcomed the President.

Cultural troupes of the erstwhile Scindia kingdom welcomed the President by playing trumpets, and drums and performing dance in a traditional manner.

Scindia and his wife along with those managing the museum explained to the President the importance of each and every exhibit there.

After visiting the museum, the President will have lunch at the Jai Vilas Palace hosted by the Scindia family. She will be joined by the governor and the chief minister.

Later in the day, the President will grace the 4th convocation of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management in Gwalior, the sources said. Before Murmu, then presidents including Rajendra Prasad, Savrapalli Radhakrishnan, Giani Zail Singh, Shankar Dayal Sharma, APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had visited Jai Vilas Palace, a Madhya Pradesh BJP office-bearer said.

The Jai Vilas Palace was built in 1874 by Jayajirao Scindia, the Maharaja of Gwalior in the British Raj. While a major portion of the palace is now the Jiwajirao Scindia Museum, a part of it is the residence of some of his descendants.