Gwalior, Oct. 4 :    Gwalior, Oct. 4:  Today, Madhavrao Scindia was scheduled to visit Chhatri - the royal crematorium - to supervise the building of a park around the Rajmata's samadhi. Even in death, he kept his appointment. The irony of it all was not lost on royal gardener Ram Prakash, who wept inconsolably. He was there today with all of Gwalior and the top leaders of the country to watch the last rites of a Maharaja who could have been Prime Minister. As the clock struck two in the afternoon, Rajpurohit Chandrakant Shinde instructed Prince Jyotiraditya Scindia to light the pyre amid the chanting of Vedic hymns. Twenty-one guns boomed. Madhavrao was cremated less than 100 metres from where his mother, Rajmata Scindia, was consigned to flames barely 10 months ago. He was given a funeral with full state honour. His body was brought into the crematorium in a palanquin covered with the tricolour. The procession was led by the army band of the 18th Kumaon Regiment and gun salutes given by jawans of the 436 Air Defence Missile Regiment. Among those present were Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, home minister L.K. Advani, parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan and chief minister Digvijay Singh. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, who had broken down in the Kashmir Assembly yesterday, could not hold back his tears while paying his last respects to Scindia. Jyotiraditya was the picture of grief. The royal purohit shaved his head and gave him a bath at the cremation site. The prince will be given the title of 'Maharaja of Gwalior' on October 12, 13 days after Scindia's death. Everything was done in the true tradition of the Scindias. Close relatives and Maratha sardars led the procession. Smaller rajas, jagirdars and elected representatives of panchayat and city council followed. The womenfolk of the royal family stayed away. That is the custom. At 10.15 am, the procession started from the Jai Vilas Palace for the Chhatri. Scindia's body was kept in a palanquin which was mounted on a gun carriage. Jyotiraditya led the procession behind the military band. He was accompanied by close male members of the family.