The city of Mandawa, founded in the mid 18th century, was once a town inhabited by the rich merchant families. The wealthy and dominant merchants constructed massive havelis, adorned with beautiful wall paintings, for the purpose of their residence. However, with time, the merchants moved on and migrated to other areas, leaving the beautiful havelis in the shadows of anonymity. Still, the magnificence of these havelis did not diminish and now they have become a major tourist attraction of the city.
The beautiful wall paintings that decorate the havelis of Mandawa in Rajasthan, have seen the themes changing from time to time. In the earlier days, mythology dominated the themes of the frescoes, displaying local legends, animals, portraits, hunting and wrestling scenes, etc. 19th century saw the themes being changed to reflect the British (Raj) influence on the Indian culture. The traditional subjects were exchanged for cars, trains, balloons, telephones, gramophones, English men in hunting attires and portraits of the haveli owners immaculately dressed.
There are a number of fascinating havelis in Mandawa, all of them adorned with beautiful wall paintings. Some of the main havelis are:
Hanuman Prasad Goenka Haveli: This haveli has a painting depicting Indra Dev on an elephant and Lord Shiva on his vehicle, Nandi bull.
Goenka Double Haveli: This haveli, with two gates, has its portico adorned with elephants and horses.
Murmuria Haveli: The paintings of the haveli include a train with a crowded level crossing, with crow flying above it. Another impressive picture is that of Nehru on a horseback, holding the national flag.
Jhunjhunwala Haveli: The haveli is decorated with striking gold leaf painted room.
Mohan Lal Saraf Haveli: The picture of a Maharaja stroking his moustaches beautifies this haveli.
Gulab Rai Ladia Haveli: This haveli is located in the south of town, where the decoration of the outer and inner walls is perhaps the finest in Shekhawati. Blue washes here and there betray twentieth-century censorship of the erotic scenes that had been commonly acceptable one hundred years earlier.
Other havelis of Mandawa include the Binsidhar Newatia Haveli, Lakshminarayan Ladia Haveli and Chokhani Double Haveli, etc.
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The coordinates are from the Gulab Rai Ladia Haveli - the 3 first pictures. See our gallery of 12 photos.