A slice of Shekhawati

Aakash Mehrotra

The desolate roads, pastoral calmness hung in the air, changing colour of the mud-dunes from clayey brown to camel yellow, the nomadic hue of the lifestyle, frequent calls of a peacock and the half-forgotten monuments set against the backdrop of an azure, blue sky. This region seemed to have soaked its beauty in the rustic chill of its lifestyle. Shekhawati floats in the air here. The charm of havelis, cenotaphs, stepwells strewn around and the mighty Alsisar Palace standing against the backdrop of a struggling sun amid the monsoon clouds.

When Raja Shekha established the Shekhawati region in the 18th century, he made it a tax-free zone for commerce and trade and invited rich merchants of the erstwhile Marwar belt of Bikaner, Jodhpur, Kota and even Jaipur to settle and establish business in the Shekhawati region. Many of these merchants, the Goenkas, Piramals, Birlas, Poddars, Agrawals and the Khetans settled in this tax-free state with a condition that they would be ready to provided financial help when the state asks or requires, thus setting the base of a thriving business and cultural centre of Rajasthan.

In the 19th century when these merchants moved to and prospered in new commercial centres of Bombay, Gujarat and Calcutta, they sent money back home and build grand havelis to tell their families and villagers of their prosperity. And as more merchants moved out, more havelis and cenotaphs were built. And thus a ‘never-to-die’ Shekhawati was born.

The story of Alsisar, which lies 40 km from the Churu railway station, is a bit different. Alsi and Malsi were two sisters. Unable to bear taunts aimed at his sisters who went to draw water from the village well, Thakur Nawal Singh decided to dig his own well. He dug through the night until he struck water. Alsi settled at this sar (water source) and the place came to be known as Alsisar and the village where Malsi settled became Malsisar.

Alsisar keeps its soul in its palace, which stands in the centre of the village as a royal guardian. A massive arched gateway, protected by a wooden door welcomes the visitor who are then led to a massive courtyard. On one side of the courtyard is the main baithak or durbar hall, where all trade-related meetings took place. The rich frescos with intricate gold leaf work done on them, the stinted glasses depicting various scenes from Lord Krishna’s life, heavy chandeliers bought from France and heavy work done on the Belgian glasses; all create a fine play of luxury in unison. There was a screened off latticed windows, above the durbar, for women to look at the proceedings of the durbar. The grandiose of the durbar looked like a leaf taken from a lavish Bollywood movie set in historical times.

On the other side of the main courtyard is the men’s palace (Mardana Mahal) and as one moves inwards towards the women’s palace (Zanana Mahal), basically been led from one courtyard to the other, one comes closer to the artefact of the renaissance Shekhawati has seen. The best of the elaborate frescos and gold leaf work is seen in the Zanana Mahal.

And being in palace, isn’t the only thing one can do in Alsisar. Set off for a village tour and you will be amazed by the richness of architecture in the village. Shekhawati stills lives in its past, and decades or centuries-old temples, cenotaphs, wells are still the main landmarks in the village. There are havelis, which have been restored and converted to schools. There are havelis which are now abandoned and looked after by a caretaker, but these weave a story for us, they tell a tale of the era when this region was a strategic trade point. These random havelis are emblematic, existing as symbols of lost pleasure, wealth and easy life. Today these are dwelled by pigeons, grasp for some fresh air to live their rich past in their present, but these still pull you. Alsisar has uniquely positioned itself as less touristy but more restored of Shekhawati villages. Many of these havelis are now been restored by the present owner Thakur Gaj Singh.

The rugged landscape of Alsisar — with its mud-dunes, charming panoply of frittered trees, rocky terrain dotted with acacias and every unutilised piece of land flowered with sunflowers — never fails to mesmerise the travellers. What’s better than to go for a desert safari to acquaint oneself with the hardships of life in this scorched belt as one gets close to women dressed in their traditional dresses laden with bangles struggle to get potable water from far off or men walking languorously with their camels or camels walking aimlessly down the road, pulling their carts with their frustrated owners behind them wearing an air of pessimism.

The safari jeep takes you through narrow muddy roads or sometimes through fields (where once roads existed), but every bump looks inviting; the inescapable melody of the landscape, calls of gazelles from some hidden corners, hoots of owls, a carpet of wild sunflowers and the optimism in the maize plants planted on the slopes. And then, the jeep takes you to a hillock; step down and breathe in the moment, the magnetic beauty of the nothingness of the arid landscape is before you. Your chauffeur will lay down a table for you to sip in the most memorable coffee of your life.

It seems that in Alsisar, there’s always something more to be offered. Travelling here is a shift in perspective. Landscape is tricky and amazing and constantly changing. There’s value in nothingness, centuries-old cultural panorama, incredible tales, the colourful tuk-tuks decorated like a princess and the long forlorn acacia trees — everything commands an inviting charm in unison and then a palace standing as a royal guard of this historical cultural and natural vista.