More than 20 villages scattered across this part of Rajasthan have painted Shekhawati havelis, the largest open-air art gallery in India.
It’s dark when I arrive at the Vivaana Culture Hotel in Churi Ajitgarh, 240 kilometres south-west of Delhi, headlights ricocheting off a wall painted with camels and elephants. The electricity is out and I’m led to my room by torchlight. Candles are lit and my guide leaves me to it.The next morning I wake in a painted garden. The walls are frescoed with twining pink roses, encircling stucco columns that rise to an arcaded gallery overhead.
died, and from the early 1800s the Shekhawats shifted their mercantile skills to Calcutta and Bombay. Whimsical architecture, Delft tiles, crystal chandeliers and doors encrusted with metalwork weren’t enough – the merchants also wanted colour, so they painted every square centimetre of their homes in a competition to outshine their neighbours. Inspiration came from myriad sources – traditional Rajasthani folk tales, hunting scenes, battles, ancestor portraits and stories from the Ramayana. European influences worked their way into the paintwork.
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