Spring-cleaning India’s most magnificent tent

Rajasthan’s Royal Red Tent is as tall as a double-decker bus, made from silk, velvet and gold – and it’s getting its first proper clean in more than three centuries, says Melissa Van Der Klugt.
High up on the ramparts of Mehrangarh, in one of Rajasthan’s most famous forts – one of the most visited in India – a small team is dusting down a large tent.
Each section is so big that the three conservationists – dressed in neat white overalls and equipped with pocketfuls of soft brushes – must clamber around on tables and chairs. “The priority is the object,” says one, pointing to the elaborate design of lotus flowers stitched in solid gold thread.
For this is no ordinary tent – but one that excites huge interest and controversy in India. It was once thought to have been the home of Shah Jahan, the great 17th-Century Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal.

This post was published at BBC