Shekhawati Painted Havelis

Marwari merchant families from the Shekhawati towns made fortunes in Bombay and Calcutta through the nineteenth century, and they sent the money home to build havelis, courtyard mansions whose every surface, inside and out, was covered in fresco: gods and epics on the older ones, and on the later, telephones, motor cars, gramophones, aeroplanes and Europeans in hats, painted by artists who had mostly never seen them. Hundreds survive across Mandawa, Nawalgarh, Fatehpur, Ramgarh and Mukundgarh, many empty and decaying with families long gone, a few restored as museums or hotels.

What you actually see

• The exterior frescoes - painted walls facing the street on every haveli.
• The modern subjects - cars, trains, aeroplanes and telephones painted from hearsay.
• The courtyards - inner rooms with the finest and best-preserved painting.
• The decay - hundreds of mansions empty and deteriorating.

When to go

October to March; Rajasthan summers are severe. Mornings give better light on street facades. The towns are spread out and a car is effectively required to see several.

Honest expectations

Most havelis are locked and privately owned; access often depends on finding a caretaker and paying. Many are badly decayed with paintings lost. The region has minimal tourist infrastructure outside Mandawa.

Nearby

Jaipur lies south; Bikaner is west.