Day 2 Exploring Churu

Energized, after a good night sleep, I was all set to explore in and around Churu. I had already scouted the area online and read about Ramgarh and Mehansar. These two little towns in shekhawati region are famous for numerous havelis. Though unfrequented by Indian tourists, this region is quite popular among the foreigners and soon I knew why. I was stunned to see the colorful hand paintings, painted with natural colors, and how well they captured the minute details to perfection. Every single brushstroke is delightful to watch & no wonder it took years to build these havelis as the artists carved life into the walls.
After the breakfast, light and delicious poha, we were on road at 7 in the morning. Mahansar is a small village around 15 km from Churu and is famous for "Golden Haveli". The haveli get its name from Sanskrit mantras written all over the walls in gold. We relied solely on help from locals to reach Mahansar and search for the haveli. The whole town including the Haveli is non commercialized and the haveli is still managed my the real owner. We were quite early and the Haveli was still close. We were wandering around when a mid-aged gentle men approached us and started conversation. He offered to guide us to the nearby "Thakur ji" temple and we joined him. To my surprise, the temple was huge and it enshrines several deities, probably among very few temples with an idol of Lord Hanuman's son. The terrace was beautiful; water bowls and grain for birds and the stunning view of the surrounding forts. I couldn't resist not spending sometime feeling the gentle morning breeze and soft sunshine. The gentlemen invited us to his house but as we were running short of time we half-halfheartedly declined his request. I offered him some money for the time he spent showing us the temple which he found offending and we were embarrassed. But it's rare to find a person with no hidden intentions behind a kind gesture. We didn't have enough words to thank him as we parted ways.

By now the Haveli was open and what a fortunate day since the owner himself was present to give us a tour. The moment we stepped onto the verendah I was in a different world, awestruck and open-mouthed. The walls were wholly painted from top to bottom with every possible shade of color and meticulously designed artwork. I have never seen such a beautiful story telling through paintings and colors. One side of the wall captured the epic of Ramayana with pictures from Sita swayamwar, Ram's exile, Hanuman burning lanka and Ranm killing Ravan. On the other side, it was Krishna Leela depicting the birth of Krishna in Jail, Nandgaon and Krishna dancing with Gopis. Besides the stories from Hindu mythology the paintings also portrayed life of Budhha and other random pieces of art. Our guide was a good narrator and I could see his excitement and energy while showing the place to us. Shockingly, he doesn't charge anything and only 100 bucks from foreign tourists. I suggested him to start collecting tickets and he can use the money to further improve and protect the Haveli. He told even if he wish to charge higher price, his kids won't agree. He regretted that his family could only value the worth of this place 30-35 years and realised how lucky they are to inherit such a precious heritage. He was a humble man with lots of respect and pride for his forefathers.

Next we headed to the fort and were disappointed to see it was close until we heard someone calling. It took a while to realize that was for us and a man reached out to us intrigued to see just two of us on the bike. We asked if there is anyway we can go inside the fort and soon we realized the fort was actually his house. We went inside and met his family including his cute little daughter. His house was traditional Rajput architecture and was beautifully decorated. They requested us to stay and have food with them but we still had Ramgarh to visit. On our way to Ramgarh, I was already missing last few hours I spent in Mahansar and some nice people I met.

Ramgarh was 15 Km long ride on a barren narrow yet good tar road through the desert. Ramgarh is a bigger town than Mahansar, crowded lanes and markets and we saw several funny yet strange donkey carts.
There are several haveli's in Ramgarh but unfortunately most of them are in very bad shape. They are abandoned by their owners who have left for business in other big cities in India and abroad. It's bitterly sad to see such precious treasure being erased with time which once stood proud as the symbol of Rajasthan's rich history. To some relief, we found a Haveli that was recently renovated and we went inside to take some photos. Not to our surprise and keeping up with the reputation of Rajasthan, people are super friendly, helpful and hospitable. We stopped at a small shop for lunch which was clean and not to mention the food was simple yet super delicious.

By 6 PM we were back to Churu visiting Jain temple, like many others I have seen in past it was beautifully decorated with mirros. We also visited a small museum that kept an account of more than 1000 years.

It was almost the end of my second day of the trip. As I strolled through the narrow and crowded lanes of this typical Rajasthani town I was happy. A sense of satisfaction of being where I wanted to be few days back and at the centre of so many colors, smiling faces and smell of dinner being cooked from nearby houses. Remembering the cute little girl, few good people who cared and the view from the terrace I retired for the day.