Havelis: A Living Tradition of Rajasthan

Beyond the forts and palaces, innumerable havelis weave the urban fabric of the medieval towns in Rajasthan. These havelis of the nobles and courtiers are unparalleled in architectural beauty and provide an interesting insight into the domestic architecture of Rajasthan. The book is the first comprehensive, regional work on these mansions of the courtiers spread in the historic towns of Rajasthan. It traces the evolution and transformation of the havelis in the alternating context of unified Rajasthan and its sub regional diversities. The documentation of several havelis in different regions of Rajasthan is further supported by an examination of the various determinants of the haveli form to show how the regional variations arise from social, political and geographical factors such as occupation, caste, topography, and available material. The book draws on information collected from regional texts, fictions and folklore depicting social life, extensive fieldwork including of a survey of more than 150 havelis in different towns of Rajasthan and interviews several haveli residents. It covers major cities of Rajasthan such as Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Udaipur as well as a number of smaller towns and thikanas of earlier times. This book presents a first hand, detailed and documented version of the traditional ‘Haveli form’ of Rajasthan for the exploring tourist who wants to look beyond the obvious destinations and for the architects, art historians and conservationists looking at vernacular architecture in search for regional roots.