India Guide
Rajasthan
Shekhawati
North of Jaipur, small sand-blown towns nestle at the easternmost edges of the Thar Desert. Known as Shekhawati, this region lay on an important caravan route connecting Delhi and Sind (now in Pakistan) with the Gujarati coast. Having grown rich on trade and taxes, the merchant Marwari and landowning thakur castes of small market towns like Nawalgarh and Jhunjhunu spent their fortunes competing with each other to build grand, ostentatiously decorated havelis. Many have survived, in an incredible concentration of mansions, palaces and cenotaphs plastered inside and out with elaborate and colourful murals, executed between the 1770s and the 1930s.
The havelis (after the Persian word for "enclosed space") typically follow a fairly standard pattern. The entrance from the street is usually through a grandly decorated gateway with carved doors. Inside, most havelis consist of two main courtyards: the mardana, or men's, courtyard, where visitors were normally received in the baithak, an open-sided meeting room, and beyond that the zenana, or women's courtyard, usually accessed via a richly decorated doorway surmounted by a figure of Ganesh. Although most havelis consist of just these two main courtyards, some boast four or even six separate courtyards, perhaps with a subsidiary courtyard used for stabling animals – horses, camels or even elephants. Inside and out, they're typically decorated with flamboyant murals on both religious and secular themes, often including incongruous, harmingly naive depictions of contemporary machines, fashions and outlandish foreigners.
While a small number of havelis have been restored and opened as museums, most remain in picturesque dilapidation, still occupied by local families. Others have been abandoned, and remain empty apart from a solitary chowkidar (caretaker-cum-guard). Some are closed to outsiders, in others visitors are welcome to look inside in return for a small tip (Rs10–20 is sufficient). If in doubt just stick your head in the front door and ask, but remember that you're effectively entering someone's private home, and never go in without permission.