…a part of India I had never felt particularly inclined to visit, up until I happened to befriend an American architect called Diana Kellogg, the lady behind the incontestably eye-catching Rajkumari Ratnavati Girls School located in the Thar desert on the fringes of the city, which opened to much acclaim in 2021…it was shortly thereafter, in 2022, that I met Diana at a dinner party in New Delhi, and very soon, our shared love of food, philosophy and self-analysis, in addition to a common congenital cynicism, cemented a somewhat quirky friendship…
Above: Inside courtyard of Rajkumar Ratnavati School
…And it just so happened, when on a whim I decided to visit Jaisalmer, that Diana was there; she goes back regularly, simply for the joy of engaging with the students, and I was most charmed when she suggested I visit the school in the morning just as it opened, to watch the girls bound onto the premises and race around the courtyard with sheer abandon, reveling in the sparkling future they hoped their education would bring …
…Now, I am not implying that this school is the principal attraction of Jaisalmer, but it does certainly add to the appeal of the princely state, the paradoxical blend and contrast of the modern architectural marvel with and against the surrounding habitat, no less than stupefying.
Indeed, many of the princely states in India today depend on the ‘Ambassadorial’ prowess of the resident royal family to bring attention their way, and I do hope Jaisalmer manages to both further and forever advance it’s USP, since the fort, which is the oldest of the few living forts left in the world, is an entire universe and law unto itself and must be seen to be believed; not even the most skilled photographer in the world would be able to convey the allure and lure of Jaisalmer, with all of its patrician insouciance and, in what is this inarguably high octane era, refreshing lethargy.
Above: Main entrance of Jaisalmer fort
Little did I know that I was in for a far greater treat than expected, when I made a booking at Suryagarh, a luxury destination hotel, which since its birth a little over a decade ago, has gradually become as synonymous with the Jaisalmer experience as a visit to the fort itself; over the years, many a friend and acquaintance of mine had often spoken to me about the hotel with great enthusiasm, placing special emphasis on the unequalled hospitality of the management staff, the chief of which is veteran hotelier Mr. Karan Singh Vaid, whose brainchild Suryagarh is.
Clockwise from top left: The entrance to Suryagarh hotel,
the musical welcome, my old French friend, now working
for The MRS Group that owns Suryagarh.
As soon as it came to his attention that I had booked a room at the hotel, he telephoned me personally, not only to extend an advance welcome, but also to inform me that an old French friend of mine, with whom I had lost touch, had joined the hotel group and would be both receiving and chaperoning me during my stay…
…The rest is a memorable blur, the magic and splendor of which I can only try to do my best to recall and recount, beginning with the musical welcome we received upon arrival in the midst of a sunny February afternoon at Suryagarh, followed by many margaritas to celebrate the reunion of two old friends, a buggy ride around the vast grounds of the hotel and dinner by candle-night on the sand dunes of the Thar desert…unfortunately at the time, I had not planned on writing this piece, hence there is a paucity of photographs to accompany the text, and I can only hope my descriptions are vivid enough to illustrate my enchanting thirty six hour stay.
I must confess that at first sight I did not find Jaisalmer uniformly and consistently attractive, as one might expect of typical desert geography, for in between its various parts of historic and aesthetic significance and appeal, is a largely barren and stony landscape, making a stay at Suryagarh almost essential to an encounter with the city; not only has the property seamlessly woven the character of the old into the new, but also invited nature to impose itself, the fauna, flora, vegetable garden and farm that houses a variety of animals, all conspiring to bring solace to one’s weary senses at the end of a day spent exploring the city…
Clockwise from top left: Grounds of Suryagarh,
Horse at the farm, Rabbits at the farm,
the vegetable garden, lobby on 1st floor
In a funny way, I am glad I don’t have any photographs to accompany the sand dune dinner by candlelight, for it really should be left to come as a dazzling surprise, as must the banquet that is the signature Halwai breakfast of Suryagarh, comprising a course-by-course array of Indian street food delicacies, snacks and sweets; suffice to say, for once again, I took only one or two photographs, that this is an absolute treat, especially for a foreigner, my friend visiting from France altogether bowled over by the succession of scents, tastes and textures…as the saying goes, ‘Eat Breakfast like a king’, and so we did, our batteries fully charged for the day ahead, the first stop Jaisalmer fort, where we had a most distinguished guide accompany us , his running commentary not only remarkably accomplished in the English language but also endearingly suffused with pride of his jewel of a home town.
Above: Images of the signature Suryagarh Halwai Breakfast
The architecture of the havelis and temples inside the fort is mesmerizing in its intricacy -especially the latticed stone work known as ‘jaali’ – and what is even more bewildering is the way it all somehow blends in with the routine quotidian life that surrounds it, including the shops, guest houses, bazaars and so on and so forth, altogether transporting one back in time…
Above: Images of the interior of Jaisalmer fort
…In the midst of all of this is Killa Bhawan, a stunning little boutique hotel set up by a French-Italian couple who live between Jaisalmer and Europe, where I will spend at least one night upon my return, for there cannot be a better way to immerse oneself into the life of this magical living fort.
Above: Images of Killa Bhawan Boutique hotel
We then took a walk around the old town, the principal destination being Patwon haveli, but frankly, many of the little by-lanes with small private havelis and sun-drenched courtyards are a visual treat.
Above: Images of Jaisalmer old town
We couldn’t help but pop in to one of the many patchwork stores scattered around the city, the traditional Damodar patchwork tapestries alongside the more contemporary European designs on quilts and rugs an absolute feast for anyone with heightened design sensibilities.
Above: Images of the Patchwork Store
Needless to say, Patwon haveli is a masterpiece, and there is little else I can write that won’t be a repetition of the information available on the internet… all I will say, yet again, is that there really is no substitute for seeing it oneself.
Above: Images of Patwon Haveli
And at last it was time to visit the school, which I had failed to do first thing in the morning since the previous night’s revelry had kept me in bed till unusually late, and so off we went, albeit with one stop enroute, which turned out to be the most perfect pause and reset for our senses: Bada bagh, a garden complex housing a series of cenotaphs built by various maharajas during the course of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, each one imposing yet serene, summoning a stillness and silence in which to slowly and deliberately contemplate the minutes, hours, days and years gone by…
Above: Images of Bada Bagh
…and finally, the Rajkumar Ratnavati school, about which I wrote in the opening lines of this essay, and here-below are some additional photographs taken that day.
Above: Images of The Rajkumari Ratnavati School
With that, I come to the end of the tale of my first encounter with Jaisalmer, since I don’t have any photographs of the sumptuous meal served at Suryagarh that evening, a spell-binding curated culinary experience known as the Thar dinner, orchestrated in the central courtyard of the hotel under a starlit sky, which quite simply made us feel happy to be alive … THE END