US Vice President JD Vance, Family Visit Jaipur's Amber Fort
The family enjoyed a cultural performance featuring folk dances, including Kacchi Ghodi, Ghoomar and Kalbeliya, offering a glimpse into the vibrant culture of Rajasthan.
Published : April 22, 2025 at 10:44 AM IST
|Updated : April 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM IST
Jaipur: US Vice President J D Vance and his family members on Tuesday morning visited the well-known Amber Fort here, officials said.
Vance, accompanied by his Indian-origin wife Usha Chilukuri, their three children -- Ewan, Vivek, Mirabel -- departed the luxurious Rambagh Palace Hotel, surrounded by tight security, and reached the UNESCO World Heritage site at around 9.30 am. They received a red carpet welcome.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Deputy Chief Minister Divya Kumari welcomed Vance and his family. As they entered the main courtyard -- Jaleb Chowk -- two decorated female elephants named Chanda and Mala greeted them by raising their trunks, an official said.
28-year-old Chanda and 19-year-old Pushpa were adorned with silver anklets, necklaces and royal howdahs worth Rs 60 lakh. Beautiful folk paintings have been done on both the elephants with natural colours and mandanas have been made on their foreheads in the Dhundhani style. During the welcome, elephant Chanda greeted Vance by putting a garland of flowers on him and Pushpa raised her trunk to bless him.
The family enjoyed a cultural performance featuring folk dances, including Kacchi Ghodi, Ghoomar and Kalbeliya, offering a glimpse into the vibrant culture of Rajasthan, he said.
Vice President Vance walked the red carpet holding his sons, Ewan and Vivek, by the hand, while his wife, Usha Vance, carried their daughter Mirabel. The family appeared captivated by the impressive courtyard and architecture. The Amber Fort Palace was closed to the public from 12 pm on Monday to make preparations for the Vance family's visit. Security was beefed up in and around the Amber Fort in view of the visit by the US Vice President and the Second Lady.
Traffic was rerouted to ensure the route from Rambagh Palace Hotel to Amber Fort remained clear and reserved for the VIP movement.
Vance at 2.30 PM will address the India-US Business Summit at Rajasthan International Center (RIC) and share ideas on increasing business cooperation between the two countries. After this, he will meet Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade and Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma at Rambagh Palace.
He will once again spend the night in Jaipur and on April 23, he will go to Agra in Uttar Pradesh by a special flight to visit the world-famous Taj Mahal.
