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Hotel Castle Mandawa - Shekhavati
Mandawa, District Jhunjhunu, Shekhavati - 333704, Rajasthan
Today, the world comes to this storybook town to see its colourful frescoes on every subject under the sun, that is, ranging from the religious to the erotic; from copies of popular English prints to witty social satire, rendered in the inimitable style of the local artist. And perhaps the best place to discover the legacy of Shekhawati is from the comfort of Castle Mandawa, a fortress, now converted into a luxurious heritage hotel.
Explore Castle Mandawa at your own pace. Spend a leisurely hour over a drink in the colonial verandah that accommodates the bar, or relax in the cosy comfort of the Diwankhana, the formal drawing room decorated with family portraits and an array of antique armour.
Traditionally, this was the stronghold of Rao Shekhaji, who founded a dynasty here and gave it his name. Mandawa, a remote feudal principality in the centre of the Shekhawati region, was a trading outpost for the ancient caravan routes that stopped here from China and the Middle East. The Rajput ruler of Mandawa, Thakur Nawal Singh, built a fort in 1755 to protect this outpost. The township that grew around the fort soon attracted a large community of traders, who settled here.
When the caravan traffic ceased in the late 18th century, the traders created business empires in other parts of the country, but returned to Mandawa to build palatial mansions in their hometown.
ACCOMMODATION: The large and airy rooms of the Castle have been converted into charming, well appointed accommodation, retaining the old flavour using period furniture and local furnishings. No two rooms are alike (there are 70 of them -- Royal Suites, Luxury Suites, Deluxe Rooms, Standard Rooms) and yet each of them display the grandeur and the taste of the rulers of the past. A rare blend of modern comfort in medieval surroundings!
In the zenana or women's quarters, one room offers antique murals, another has a marble fountain, while the turret room boasts of walls that are 7 feet thick! Looking out from the windows of the turret room it is easy to imagine the marauding bandits that once roamed freely here. Little wonder then that the family crest contains the motto, Veer Bhogya Vasundhara - The brave shall inherit the earth.
DINING: At Mandawa, simple pleasures leave a listing impression... whether it is a quiet breakfast on a terrace offering great views of distant temples and cenotaphs, a leisurely lunch in the mural-painted dining room, sundowners sipped in the congenial setting of the verandah bar, or an alfresco dinner under the stars, entertained by Rajasthani folk singers and dancers. Every meal becomes a memorable occasion.
One of the highlights of the stay at Castle Mandawa is the royal repast. A candle lit dinner on the lawns, or around a bonfire in the rear courtyard, is climaxed by the performance of a fire dancer who sways to the hypnotic beat of traditional drums.
FACILITY: There are 70 rooms, a verandah bar, conference facilities and an ayurvedic centre. The hotel also organizes camel and horse rides, jeep safaris, gala dinners, puppet shows and folk dances, traditional welcome with tilak and garlands, theme weddings, turret dinners and a heritage walk of Mandawa.
- 75 rooms
- Camel and Horse rides,
- Jeep Safaris
- Verandah bar
- Gala Dinners,
- puppet shows,
- Folk dances
- Conference Facilities
- Royal welcome,
- Theme Weddings,
- Turret Dinners
- Ayurvedic centre
- Billiard room,
- Pool table,
- Table Tennis
- Swimming pool and Spa
- Vintage car rides
CONFERENCES: Special Support Facilities - Conference co-coordinator and Audio-visual equipment available on hire.
- Royal Wedding: The Mandawa Group of Hotels has four hotels. Three hotels at Mandawa: Castle Mandawa, The Desert Resort & Jai Niwas Resort, one hotel at Jaipur: Mandawa Haveli. There are a total of 135 rooms at Mandawa and 40 rooms at Jaipur. The Mandawa Group of hotels offers the luxury of royal weddings with all the requisite infrastructure and amenities.
- Venues: Mandawa Group offer their guests the best venues and infrastructure in Shekhawati: The Sand dunes at the Desert resort where they host the Gala dinners.
- An Oasis: created artificially at the Desert Resort, which is home to a number of migratory birds and is fed by a cascading waterfall.
- Sajjan Bagh at Castle Mandawa based on the Mughal gardens with old style chhatris, a baradari, bar, live tandoor and charcoal grills.
- The Pool Side at Castle Mandawa: A beautiful three layer pool with steam bath, Jacuzzi, bar & lush green lawns.
- Event Calendar: The colourful festival of Holi celebrates the coming of spring. The entire village celebrates with gay abandon for a week preceding Holi. This culminates on the day of the festival in the main courtyard of Castle Mandawa. Gangaur festival is dedicated to Gauri, a manifestation of goddess Parvati, where maidens and married women join in procession carrying beautifully adorned wooden images of the goddess through the streets and praying for the wellbeing of their husbands or asking for the husband of their dreams.
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