Back in the old days of early tourism in Rajasthan. Rajasthan was an enormously spread out province of India with far placed princely cities of distinct identities. These cities evoked their fabled legends as the mere mention of their name. Each one was uniquely associated with colour, shape, food, architecture, language and stories. Back then, the biggest challenge was to connect them in one tour, often a daunting task given the vast open space of arid landscape between them. What efficiently made possible was having a comfy Ambassador or Contessa and often an affable Mr. Singh as driver.

The 1980s saw the Palace on Wheels train born to become an instant legend.

This train pulled by a steam engine was created by joining personal saloons of old royal houses. In the weeklong journey, The tourists would dine and sleep in the train and wake up in a different city each morning. Each day there would be a new kind of gala reception, a new architectural beauty and a new palace to spend lunchtime into. Suddenly, the famed charm and hospitality of Rajasthan was being talked about in world travel publications. The best mentions were always about the immensely photogenic people who charm with friendliness and genuine desire to entertain the guests. The term Pawna (term used for personal guest who is so important that he/she is the guest of whole clan and the village) and Padharo Mharey Des (a term used to express welcome to owns land) got so associated with the tourism related economics of Rajasthan that these never got separated from the recall value of Rajasthan