artnlight

As our rickshaw sped through the bylanes of the old city in Bikaner I saw these buildings and was like, wait a minute, what are these buildings? That's when the driver told us these were Havelis built by merchants many centuries ago. While some are inhabited most of these magnificent structures are empty. Lane after winding lane lined with the most intricately carved exteriors. I remembered the Ahmedabad pols, but these were more regal and certainly not as 'lived-in' as the pols in Ahmedabad.

"Havelies are marvels in home architecture. Such havelies or residential houses do not exist anywhere in the world. They are the pride of Bikaner, says great author and philosopher, Aldous Huxley."

"The havelies were the residence of wealthy merchants who had a fancy for beauty and art. Nine months in a year they lived in far off lands to earn money and then came to this city to rest and enjoy and build havelies and live in them, show their wealth and status, their love , fascination for architecture and colours."

The juxtaposition of the handpainted words like 'Modern' and 'school' in these lanes captures the way the old & the new co-exist.

A parked cycle in a decaying entrace....

...and wiring indicate habitation in some of these havelis

Lanes like these are such a rarity in Rajasthan which is mostly buzzing with people & markets through the day.

Some of the Havelis show mixed architectural influences.

As one walks through these labyrinths of beauty, one can't help but wonder about their upkeep & maintenance. Many of Jaisalmer's Havelis are maintained by either the families who constructed them or by the Archeological Survey of India, I didn't see any such signs here.

And just when you feel like you are walking through a giant and empty film or theater set, suddenly a childs head pops out & surprises you.

There was so much artistry in the Junagad fort/palace at Bikaner that it truly deserves another post. Every surface, be it the walls, the doors, the ceilings or the floor, was a canvas for the hugely talented artisans who worked with vegetable dyes and gold.

Gold paint and vegetable dyes on marble.

Walls and the door are filled with depictions of bounty

This floor alternates Indian and Italian tiles

Marble columns frame an elaborately painted door.

Intricately carved wooden doors inset in marble

Bowls of fruit adorn this door. The extensive use of fruit is characteristic of Junagad artistry.

A closeup of the door

Alternate panels of red & brown make this door interesting.

Above the door

But the ceilings really stole the show

A symbolic Sun looks down the ceiling benevolently.

We had begun the day with a rat temple (no kidding) and walked the almost theatrically empty lanes of Bikaners Haveli's, and then sat down to a 3 course meal in Chappan Bhog. Nothing could possibly measure upto the 1st half of the day. So we walked into Bikaner's Junagad fort without much expectation, but in tow was a 'young dude' guide (the youngest and the dudest of this trip) and life looked more promising for this one reason. But Junagad turned out to be one of the most beautiful palace-forts of Rajasthan and the explanations of the symbolism of Rajputana relics peppered with the very current dilemas of our young guides life made for a rather interesting afternoon.

Coming up is a virtual tour of sorts

Raja Bika is said have walked away from Jodhpur to create his own kingdom & hence Bikaner is named after him. The curious can read up on Bikaner's history here.

This narrow passage is the only entrance to the fort & the designs are placed as support for elephant feet when they walk up this path.

A marble water tank where the Royals played Holi (the festival of colour)

This window (jharokha) is rare and made with ceramic tiles from Poland and china

Details of a pillar.

This is the spectacular Rang Mahal

Gold on red spells opulence

This was the cloud room, all the walls were painted with blue clouds. This idol is said to have been brought from South India and is therefore dark, unlike the marble statues normally found in Rajasthan.

This alcove was where musicians sat.

The Queens Bedroom is done in muted colours.

All the walls were covered with intricate panels of carving. This one features the tree of Life with animals below it.

And when I looked up I saw these arched windows that looked into the Diwan-e-khaas. The ceilings are intricately carved wood.
Shakti Singh our guide explained every detail with an understated pride and nonchalnce of youth, he also told us this is what he'd rather do, though his girlfriend and dad would rather he joined the army.