Sardarshahar: In the old town of Sardarshahar in Rajasthan you don’t have to look for heritage, it surrounds you the moment you step on to the narrow alleys of the town.
Wherever you turn, there are giant doorways, carved niches, colonnades, painted walls, dalans (traditional porticos) and jharokhas (ornate balconies) creeping up on you.
There is so much of it that the locals have become almost indifferent to the ancient walls that surround them.
According to the local sources, the colours used for the fresco paintings were extracted from the pigment of flowers, which is the reason why most of the paintings survive even after almost 200 years, despite little to no maintenance.
Most of the sprawling mansions have 25 to 30 rooms each. Some of the striking features of the havelis, apart from the frescoes and gigantic doors, are the intricate glass, wood and stone works in the interiors. Some of the rooms are built entirely of glass, while a few are gold painted.
In many cases, the ceilings have delicate stained-glass works, while others have brush strokes that look as vivid and fresh as they were painted yesterday.
However, these ornate mansions are not unique to Sardarshahar, but are an extension of the distinctive Shekhawati heritage covering several adjoining towns such as Mandawa, Churu, Ramgarh, Fatehpur and Mahansar.
The architecture in these bigger towns usually get attention, but the Sardarshahar havelis may soon become history if they don’t get immediate care.
They are so oblivious to the treasure they are sitting on that they seem surprised to have visitors admiring the crumbling walls.
But, unlike their inhabitants, the fresco-covered walls of these ancient havelis (palatial mansions) don’t seem surprised, rather they seem to be enjoying the rare looks of awe.
It’s love at first sight, with flames raging from both sides.
They have been so deprived of attention for all these years that they had almost forgotten that they were once beautiful. They still are!
As their builders passed away and they got handed down from one generation to another, these mansions fell into disregard. The romance wore off.
But in the eyes of these occasional discerning admirers they see that flame again, reminding them of their lost glory!
Lost to the march of modernity
They yearn to be in the arms of their admirers once again, if not for long, for just one last flourish before they get lost in the dusts of time.
Many of their contemporaries have gone, lost to the march of modernity, replaced by the tasteless, shapeless, unremarkable blocks of concrete and glass.
Located in a state with such a storied past and so rich a built heritage, these 200-year-old mansions with frescoes a connoisseur would die for, don’t have many takers here. Anywhere else, these would be a huge tourist attraction.
So commonplace are these here that a mere mention of conservation draws expressions of surprise and sneer from the locals.
“There are so many of these all over Rajasthan, it’s just not feasible. And who cares for these havelis anyways, neither the government nor the owners themselves show any concern. Most of the owners are settled in big cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Many are in foreign countries, they don’t have any interest,” says Kannak Duggad, joint inheritor of a massive haveli, a vast portion of which is in disuse and disrepair now.
Duggad lives in a section of a 25-room haveli, located near the Sardarshahar Fort, he inherited from his forefathers.
The 60-year-old says he can’t afford to maintain the 175-year-old haveli alone and his cousins who have inherited other sections of the sprawling mansion live in different cities and hardly come visiting.
Still standing and ageing gracefully
This is the story of almost all the mansions that grace Sardarshahar. Either they have fallen to the vagaries of disregard or are ready to meet the sands of time. Those that are in use are mostly in a dilapidated state. Only a handful are in good condition and are being looked after, albeit reluctantly.
But, even those that are still standing and ageing gracefully, only have the security guards as their sole inhabitants, hopelessly guarding the giant entrances of these storied mansions against the trespass of time.
Ironically, despite being a democracy, Indians continue to pamper and shower all their love on the royal palaces and forts, while real heritage of the people who form the heart and soul of the democracy continue to get ignored.
More than the palaces and forts, old townships like Sardarshahar, some of which are still inhabited, represent the real Indian heritage, offering us an insight into how people from different parts of India built, lived and flourished in the past.
Employing elements of Indo-Islamic architecture, these palatial houses transport you to a time when buildings were not merely a few clusters of rooms, but represented an art of living that combined utility with delicate aesthetic sensibilities.
But, looking at their current state, it seems they will soon be consigned to some sepia-toned memories and dog-eared references.
-- Shafaat Shahbandari is a journalist based in Bengaluru.
