Travelling in Rajasthan in February 2008
Jaipur >> Shekhawati >> Pushkar >> Jaisalmer >> Jodhpur
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Before I continue writing more on the painted havelis of Shekhawati, here are some images of the murals.
Continued at Young Brat from Mandawa
Travelling in Rajasthan in February 2008
Jaipur >> Shekhawati >> Pushkar >> Jaisalmer >> Jodhpur
+ Previous: Glimpses of Shekhawati
+ Next: Images – Paintings on the Havelis
The murals spread densely along the walls, and it is hard to concentrate on any one – eyes keep shifting from one to next. Images of Krishna and his associates dominate most walls, surrounded by frames of various shapes and thick floral borders and designs. He is cuddling with Radha on a swing in one frame, playing with gopikas in the next, and fondly patting his herd of obedient cattle.
Paintings of Krishna are ubiquitous on the walls of Shekhawati’s havelis, but some have gone contemporary and beyond Indian mythology. Pointing at a line of railway coaches in one of the Havelis, my guide tells me that the artists were taken all the way to Mumbai to see the steam engine that was a novelty in those days. Travel stories that I read on Shekhawati tell me of many more murals – of Radha and Krishna depicted driving a car, and of Right Brothers taking off on the first ever airplane. I would like to see, but there are so many havelis dotting the sandy towns of Shekhawati that it is impossible to go in search of every one of them.
Sneh Ram Ladia Haveli
Sneh Ram Ladia’s Haveli in Madawa is my first stop on a day dedicated to Haveli hunting. The paintings here have weathered the century or so they have stood on the walls, unlike a few other I have seen on the way where the colors have faded or the plaster peeled. The caretaker of the house shows me around the sections of the haveli where the merchant-owner spent his day working, the kitchen, women’s quarters and living area, and tells me proudly that it is one of the best kept havelis.
The merchants office is a open courtyard with plenty of light and ventilation to the left of the entrance. The courtyard walls add to the official atmosphere, with paintings of important people, places and occasions. One of them, just behind the merchant’s seat is labeled “Rajput Chief’s Assembly,” displaying a row of mustachioed men in royal clothes. Next to that is a portrait of “Raja of Bilaspur(Kahlur)” who looks stout against his bodyguards who surround him. Near the corners are images of British men and women and large buildings that seem like offices.
The living quarters are on the first floor, approached through a narrow staircase. Walls here are free from officialdom and resort to the images of gods and scenes from mythology. There is Yashoda churning butter as her child watches, Krishna playing his flute, dancing with gopikas and stealing their clothes. The outer walls are have images of armies – Indian kings on elephants and horseback, and the British men standing in uniform with their rifles. There is a king on a procession sitting in his palanquin and lead by a band of musicians announcing his arrival. Portraits of Rajput gentry line the area below awnings, adorned in elaborately designed frames. Where there isn’t enough space to paint a portrait or depict a story, the walls are filled with patterns and floral designs. No corner is left unpainted.
The caretaker of Sneh Ram Shivaprasad Ladia Haveli makes his living selling antiques to tourists, and to dealers coming from cities who buy in larger numbers. He is happy to see his Haveli in a good shape and rues on the fate of many others that are crumbling.
Continued at Images – Paintings on the Havelis
Travelling in Rajasthan in February 2008
Jaipur >> Shekhawati >> Pushkar >> Jaisalmer >> Jodhpur
+ Previous: The Marwari Language
+ Next: Havelis of Shekhawati
The first thing I sight in Mandawa town are a pair of peacocks strolling freely on the main road. They don’t seem much different in their attitude from roosters in villages that fearlessly wander in search of something to peck. They laze on the unmetalled road undaunted, callously moving to a corner when my bus roars into the scene with its high decibel engine. The driver honks at men, cows and peacocks alike, warning about the entry of his brute tin drum that cares little for anything on the way.
Mandawa’s two main roads are just wide enough to let a bus barely make it through, squeezing between gutters on either side. If two wide-bodies of equal might encounter each other in this constrained space, they get into a battle of furious honking until one of them surrenders and retracts. The small town often gets filled with the noise of bus drivers in conflict that gets broadcasted to everyone in town.
The town has peacocks not just wandering on the roads, but also painted on the walls of its crumbling old havelis (mansions) that are covered in colors from corner to corner. In fact, Shekhawati region that encloses Mandawa is sometimes referred to as the world’s largest open air art gallery. Large havelis dot the town that once used to house big families of traders, with each inch of the walls elaborately painted with floral designs, images from Indian mythologies, and portraits of people who framed the history of Shekhawati.
Shekhawati’s good days date beyond two centuries when traders from Delhi used to take this route to reach ports of Gujarat. Passing traders brought prosperity that came in the form taxes collected from wayfarers. Increasing disposable income lead to flourishing population of artisans who decorated the towns with rich colours and painted houses of merchants living opulent lives.
But Shekhawati’s date with fortune had to end with the changing political landscape in Delhi as well as in neighbouring regions of Rajasthan. Kingdoms of Bikaner and Jaipur on either sides of Shekhawati lowered taxes and wooed traders. And later, in the days of dominance of the British, the Mughal empire crumbled and old systems of trade ceased to exist. But the infallible and enterprising Marwari merchants survived the blow and migrated to the new centers of trade – Mumbai and Calcutta. As they prospered in the new cities in the 19th and early 20th century, they propelled money into their homelands to build lavish Havelis that stood as symbol of their pride and success. With local artisan employed to beautify these buildings, Shekhawati emerged as the open art gallery that it is today.
It is easy to stumble upon these richly painted havelis in Madawa. I walk past a few of these crumbling colourful structures as I get down from the bus and onto the dusty street, trying to find my way to the hotel. But the surprise comes when I set into the veranda of my hotel whose walls make a good attempt to match the decor of the old Havelis. Its concrete walls are typical and boring and doesn’t have much in comparison to the thick plasters and wooden supports of the havelis, but the frescoes on them make an honest attempt to brighten the atmosphere. Next to the bed in my room is an erotic image – not usually seen on the walls of havelis – of a young Rajput royal man with his lady, in their intimate moment. I do not know if the uneasy expression on the face of the young man in the painting is a failure of the painter or a job very well done, but the painting definitely surprises me in a time when eroticism is becoming less acceptable in India than in the ancient times.
Thus began my explorations of painted towns of Shekhawati.
Continued at Havelis of Shekhawati
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