Rising above Mandawa Fort, the fort is now partly a heritage hotel but still feels like a lived-in palace: thick outer walls, arched gateways, inner courtyards with painted arches, mirror-work rooms and rooftop terraces looking over the cluster of havelis below. From the ramparts you get classic Shekhawati views – flat semi-desert land, domes and chhatris, and a skyline of painted mansions. Many visitors use the fort as a base to walk out into the old town and see nearby frescoed havelis.
About this place
History & highlights
Mandawa grew as a caravan stop on trade routes between Delhi, Bikaner and the ports; it was made a thikana of Jaipur State in the mid-18th century. The fort itself was built in the 18th century by Thakur Nawal Singh, a Shekhawat Rajput and son of Thakur Shardul Singh of Jhunjhunu, who also founded Nawalgarh. As trade wealth increased, more courtyards and painted rooms were added. In the late 20th century it was converted into Castle Mandawa heritage hotel, one of the first major heritage-tourism projects in Shekhawati, helping put Mandawa on the tourist map as “open-air art gallery of Rajasthan.
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