Just went through the archives of my blog and came to know that I forgot to include the best stay I have ever had in my resent concluded Rajasthan tour. Heritage Mandawa , more than a century old haveli now turned into a Heritage hotel. I happen to stay here on my Mandawa visit.
What else i could have expected in my life , day long journey coming from Bikaner travelling around 300 Km in some 6-7 hrs , knees had been paining without finding much of stretch for them , tired of sitting on a seat and last one hour was too bumpy , i was just looking for nice stay to spend my night and start again rejuvenated the next day. Gave a call to my brother and he arranged a stay for me at Heritage Mandawa , thanks for their prompt response.
Maiden visit to Mandawa and so to Heritage Mandawa , had heard a lot from my brother who had been here on a family trip a year back.
My driver had told me a bit about this hotel , it was once a haveli of a Marwari family from Rajasthan , built somewhere around 1860. Some years back it was turned into a Heritage Hotel.
We checked in to our room and for the first time my wife came with response on first look ” Aaaahhh its Awesome ” , bell boy smiling and staring at her and i staring and smiling seeing bell boys look watching my wife clicking the pics from her cell phone and giggling again and again ” wow , its wow this is the best “.
Wish i could have spent some more time at Mandawa and Heritage Mandawa too , but no worries at all i know i am again going to visit them.
Next day we had to check out , they had arranged special Indian breakfast for us as most of other guest’s were foreigners and they were happy with Banana , cornflakes and black tea. Specially for us Heritage Mandawa staff arranged Parantha’s , cheese omlette and toast and all of it was amazing.
It was the checking out time but something was still left , my brother had told that they have renovated two rooms , and had told me to have a look to them.
One of that room was Sheesh Mahal or can say a room decorated with glasses. As soon as i had entered into it , i was getting a feeling like i have come to a set of some old bollywood movie like Mughal – e – Azam.
Just walk into the tiniest of stairs i have ever seen and you enter into this lounge area of Sheesh Mahal , maybe those stairs date back to that time when this Haveli was built and that time stairs width was kept to minimum.
Next to enter was the Kamra – e – Nakkashi ( Painting room ) or if i be too specific it was the room decorated with Frescoes all over it , not an inch left.
Truely it was one of those unexpected things which happened to me on this Rajasthan tour of mine.
Truely and amazing place to stay , if anybody visiting Mandawa i would strongly recommend Heritage Mandawa.
Looking for a tour whether a week long or a day long one main thing to keep in mind is to think where i would be spending my night. On my latest trip to Bhangarh fort and Sariska National Park same thing was going in my mind, after a long search and enquiring some i finally decided to be staying Alwar Bagh near Sariska National Park. It was the first time i would be staying in this resort but my brother had been there before on a official trip , it was he only who suggested me this resort.
Next thing was to ask for the fare , and thankfully it was the first time when i resorted to online travel portal TRAVELGURU for this , they offered me lesser amount than any other travel agent i asked or even directly asking the Alwar Bagh Resort.
Alwar Bagh Resort
We had booked two Deluxe rooms there and it was the time to check in.
Here , the best part starts which impressed me the most.
We were made to check in to our rooms , but somehow for the first time i was acting bit fussy about the rooms interior , though i have stayed in the very normal and infact being more specific much lesser budget hotels but dont know why i was not impressed by the room which they gave me for first time.
I wont say that room had some problem , it was something which i think i realised that day , i was having some problem with the Rugged look they had given to their furniture , paint of the furniture was done in that way that it looked like and gave an unfinished look.
I called the reception and told my problem , they told me to wait for just 5 minute and let us check the availability of any other room in which they could shift me. They offered me another room and it was a surprise and the most impressive thing for me , they had given me the Super Deluxe Room.
Best Part of staying at Alwar Bagh …
This new room was double the size of my previous room , previous room dint had a mini bar and sofa but this one had the perfect couch. Previous room had just one window and this one was loaded with 5 windows , all facing towards the Amla farms of resort owner.
Amla farm view just outside my room window
It was a much delight for my eyes , watching a farm of Amla , tree’s fully loaded and i would surely accept that plucked some as well as a souvenir.
Owners Haveli just adjacent to Resort
Owner of Alwar Bagh Resort lives in resort only in their big haveli , early morning Chauhan Family sitting in their open area sipping tea , having conversation with the tourist giving a feel of home away from home , being very courteous and looking after the needs of the guest.
Kunwar Aditya Singh Chauhan
What a surprise it would be when a small kid comes to you and asks you about your stay , where you from ? what you have seen till now in Alwar.
Me and my wife were clicking some pictures of the garden area , suddenly from the back came a labrador dog and one loud kiddish toned voice following him ” Dont get scared , he only loves , he doesnt bite ” .
A small kid coming towards us , said hello and on the next instant he was in my wife’s lap asking her about from whe she came ? Is she Scared of dogs ? Did she went to Bhangarh ? Watched tiger at Sariska ?
He was shooting questions dint even waiting for answers and i was just smiling. Then i asked him what his name ? came the reply K. Aditya Singh Chauhan.
It was a kiddish tone , his accent was not clear so i had to twice or thrice i think. I was not understanding the meaning of K in the name. Then my wife asked him his full name and he replied bit angrily but smiling as well ” Ufffff Dont you understand in one time , Arre Baba its Kunwar Aditya Singh Chauhan ” .
Then he moved on with his dog after giving a kiss on my wife’s cheek. Though we met him again when we checked out , he was doing drawings sitting on the reception of resort.
We were heading back towards New Delhi , but i would say the gesture of Alwar Bagh staff , the way understood my fussyness towards the room and upgrading my room to Super Deluxe Room and the meeting with Kunwar Aditya Singh Chauhan , were those things which i had experienced for first time , totally impressed with Alwar Bagh.
Though pricing of food is on a bit higher side , but looking at a situation where there is no restaurant or any food joint nearby that pricing seemed bit fine.
I would totally recommend Alwar Bagh Resort if anybody going to Bhangarh fort or Sariska National Park.
Day 2 of my trip to Bhangarh Fort was starting, I had covered the main destination of my trip the previous day. But I would accept Bhangarh Fort was never the main attraction of the trip, it was later on decided to move there as well, from the starting trip was dedicated towards watching Tiger at Sariska Tiger Reserve or Sariska National Park. Read More
It had been a long time when I heard for the first time about Bhangarh Fort on a news channel showing it as the most haunted place of India and Asia as well, even considered as one of the most haunted place in top four of the world.
It was a weekend and a day before got a call from my brother, lets tour somewhere bro and my first reply was lets move towards Sariska National Park, till that time Bhangarh was not in the cards. Our research for a good hotel lead us to Bhangarh fort as it is just 40Km away from Sariska National Park. Read More
It was the time to say bye bye to Bikaner , my Tour of Rajasthan was reaching its end stages and the next destination was Mandawa. I had heard a lot of this place specially from my brother Chirag who had insisted and made me to include Mandawa in my tour.
Sight seeing of Bikaner was over , we had visited Junagarh Fort , Laxmi Niwas Palace and Camel Breeding Farm at Bikaner , which were the only short listed places at Bikaner in my trip. Now i was back in my car and had left for Mandawa. It was going to take some 6-7 hrs to reach Mandawa from Bikaner , i was going to visit the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan which includes Churu , Fatehpur , Mandawa and all places are known for their big centuries old Haveli’s of Marwari’s who had left these ancestoral haveli’s of them and had shifted to different parts of India.
After some 4 hrs we reached to the first halt of our , at Churu , considered as one of the most coldest and the hottest place of India and it had given me the same experience. It was somewhere near 40 degrees when we reached Churu.
First look of Churu Haveli
What else to say , this first look of churu haveli had struck my mind for sometime. Centuries old this haveli , but its frescoes still looking as fresh as they were made the day before only. I had started loving the suggestion of my brother and gave him a call to thank him for it.
We moved forward towards Mandawa , but there was going to be one more halt at Fatehpur and i was getting excited more and more and wanted to reach Mandawa as early as possible , but it was still 2hrs away and i knew that i will had to wait for the next day to have the glimpse of Mandawa Haveli’s.
Second Halt
Fatehpur had arrived , we stopped for a while , tried to look for some Haveli which is open and entry is allowed but unfortunately had to suffice from outside only.
Haveli Of Fatehpur
Hanuman Prasad Nevatiya Haveli of Fatehpur , wish i could have been able to get inside it.
Railing Design at Fatehpur Haveli
Once these Haveli’s were inhabited by the Marwari’s of these places , who comes in the richest of peoples of India in present time. They had the knack of showing there wealth by decorating there homes by these frescoes , that is why in this area every haveli gives competition to each other.
Water Well at Fatehpur
A short halt at Fatehpur , and now again on the road towards Mandawa. On the way this Water well came in front of us and forced us to stop for a while , my greedy camera was shouting from his backpack for the click.
Some Ganeshdass Gorakhram Kedia in 1977 had donated this land and water well for the people of Fatehpur.
Now Mandawa was just 30min away and it was 5.30pm and sunset was just an hour away and it was going impossible for me to visit the Mandawa Haveli’s the same day only.
Atlast we reached and checked in at Heritage Mandawa , who had offered us a free stay and in itself was a century old haveli like other haveli’s of Mandawa , it was turned into Hotel now.
Sun was down and now i had no energy to go out , so it was best to go for bed and start the next day tour early.
Second Day at Mandawa
Second day had started very early at Mandawa for me , I was going to see the majestic Mandawa Haveli ‘s and the fort of Mandawa “Castle Mandawa”.
Had a nice breakfast at Heritage Mandawa , and we left for the sight seeing of Mandawa. Though waiting was not over yet , we were bit early to leave and Haveli’s generally open by 10.00 Am and this 1 Hr costed me some Rs 4000 as my wife went for shopping spree and in one hour she bought some dozen’s of “Laakh Ki Chudiyan(Bangles)” for whole family , Mandawa is also famous for his Laakh Ki Chudiyan(Bangles) , though Jaipur is also famous for it but as my wife told she got lot more better stuff at less price here at Mandawa.
Now the right time had arrived and we started our journey towards Haveli’s , there was no need of car as it was better to be on foot in those narrow streets.
Haveli’s … A whole street but hardly anybody lives
This street had brought me to some other period , i was living my life in some other time suddenly. I had reached this street , where hardly any movement could be seen , i was looking for any Haveli in which i could enter but for that also i have ask somebody , but where to find that somebody. Then i decided lets cross the line and enter the Haveli, may be somebody is inside.
Haveli from Inside
There were signs of somebody living their , doors were open , main door of Haveli was also unlocked , i tried to look for somebody but nobody came hearing my voice , i had crossed the line by entering somebody’s home without asking anybody and again crossed the line and clicked some pictures and left in lookout of a Haveli where i could find a guard who could tell me something about that Haveli.
Atlast i reached to “Sneh Ram Lada Haveli” , their i found the guard who very happily welcomed us and invited us inside the Haveli.
First look from inside .. Sneh Ram Lada Haveli
This Haveli was turning into a museum from the next year , so some renovation work was going on , but not touching the frescoes.
Sitting area … Drawing room of Sneh Ram Lada Haveli
My Curiosity towards these frescoes was increasing with every passing minute , which that guard realised on my face.
He told us the technique why these Frescoes are still fresh and young after so long.
“These frescoes are not like paintings, infact they are like plaster on the wall and the designs were made when wall was freshly built and it had moisture in it. Natural colour were used in making the plaster and as the wall gets dry the colour would come according to the dryness of the wall , the late the dryness the darker the shade of colour would come”.
He said , from next year the owner of this Haveli is turning it into a museum. Then my next question came , who is the owner? He Replied “Sneh Ram Lada” , i was not asking the man who built this but the present owner , and his answer for this was more surprising ” Now there are some 40-50 owners of it“, all in the lineage of Late Sneh Ram Lada are the partners of this Haveli.
This had solved a puzzle which was troubling me from the time i had reached to Mandawa , Why dont they sell these Haveli’s? , now i had got the answer , how to get yes from every partner who owns the haveli , and this case is with almost every haveli of this Shekhawati Region.
Frescoes on the wall of Sneh Ram Lada Haveli
This place has got the Haveli’s of Shri G.D. Goenka and Poddar’s as well , yes they belong to this village and left this place long time back , though there Haveli came on the way but Goenka’s haveli has been turned into a Restaurant now and i was not in mood to give a visit to it.
My next destination was waiting for me , fort of Mandawa ” Castle Madawa ” , wait for it.
I had seen Haveli’s in Delhi as well in Chandni Chowk , they are also huge and very nicely carved designs could be found on it , infact they are now under ASI as Heritage property but these haveli’s are different specially there frescoes make them unique , but my visit to these haveli’s of Mandawa was something which i would visit again and again as lot is still left.
