114 TRAVEL + LEISURE / JANUARY 2017

he king resplendent

in a saff ron Mughal robe and a turban, sits on

a horse, holding a fl ower in his right hand, and

controlling the reins of his horse with the left.

The scabbard and sword are all too realistic,

transporting me to an ancient battlefi eld. Lord

Krishna plays his fl ute, gamboling with gopikas.

Gleaming panels of Tikri—the Indian word for

mosaic work, where, using scalpels, hand-cut

pieces of mirrors are inlayed into frescos on the

ceiling and the walls. Even the fl oors narrate the

story of crusading elephants in tempered red,

black, and white, the art style called izara.

Poet Rudyard Kipling mentioned in his Letters

of Marque published in 1899, “...but the Palace of

Bundi, even in broad daylight, is such a palace as

men build for themselves in uneasy dreams—the

work of goblins rather than of men.”

A great medieval fortifi cation snakes across

the hill sides, indigo and white houses spill

across the ground, and water reservoirs glisten

in the afternoon sun.

We drove through lush green poppy, striped

groundnut, emerald paddy, and golden corn

fi elds; guava and pomegranate orchards, with

fl ocks of swallows soaring overhead in perfect

symmetry. We crossed sandstone mines stacked

endlessly with rock slabs; and forests of Khejri

trees. In the battlement shades, where soldiers

once stood, hundreds of langurs nurse their

young ones, eyeing us curiously, as we strode

past in the afternoon sun.

In ancient times, the area around Bundi

is said to have been inhabited by various

local tribes. It was Rao Deva Hada of the Rao

Chauhan dynasty, who established the princely

state Bundi in the land of the great Hada

Rajputs, present day Hadoti.

T

Bundi’s architectural heritage is still intact and

the town is famous for its baoris—terraced

stone reservoirs that collect monsoon water for

the long dry season. Today, most of the houses

are painted a pale shade of blue, created by

mixing indigo with whitewash, the cheaper

alternative to modern-day enamel or distemper

paint, and also because the mix acts as a

mosquito repellent.

Our fi rst stop was the Taragarh Fort.

I followed our elderly guide Keshav Bhati,

through a gargantuan gate where local

artists greeted us with folk tunes. Despite the

magnifi cence of the structure, I was immediately

endeared by the simplicity of my surroundings.

There was no sign of organised tours, no

overbearing guides, no street-shop owners trying

to sell grossly overpriced souvenirs.

A short walk away, we reached the Garh

Palace. Inside, the Chitrashaala—a structure

of several rooms is stacked on an elevated

podium framing a garden-courtyard—is a

treasure trove of colourful murals and frescoes.

The paintings date back to the years between

Bundi’s architectural

heritage is still intact

and the town is

famous for its baoris—

terraced stone

reservoirs that collect

monsoon water for

the long dry season.

SHUTTERSTOCK; OPPOSITE: KARIN DE WINTER/ALAMY

116 TRAVEL + LEISURE / JANUARY 2017