Monday, March 17, 2008

The Shekhawati Region

After a good night sleep we were up early morning on the 2nd day of our trip for the visual splendor. We were ready by 8:00 a.m after the good continental breakfast.

We visited various Haveli's constructed by wealthy business men in the nineteenth century in the Shekhawati region. These Havelies are decorated with colored painting adorning their walls. But as the merchant families migrated, these visual attractions did not fade away and today they are some of the major attractions for the tourists visiting Rajasthan.




Next we visited Mandwa's imposing fort, right in the center. Castle Mandwa was build in 1755 by Thakur Nawal singh, a descendant of Rao Shekha, the founder of Shekhawati. Two imposing gateways lead to the central courtyard where cannons stand as a reminder of the past when they were used to repel the enemy. The palace in the fort hosts beautiful paintings. At present it is converted into the most famous hotel in the region.




From Mandwa we moved to Fathepur. The town is packed with elaborately painted mansions, temples, wells and chhatris. The Hawelis in this region depict the scenes from Mahabarath and Ramayana.

With this due to shortage of time we decided to travel to Bikaner, the camel country.

Distance: Mandwa ---> Bikaner is 164 kms

P.S: Shekhavti comprises of important towns like Mandwa, Fathepur, Jhunjhunu, Nawalgarh.