Shekhawati Tourism - Rajasthan

The Shekhawati region comprising the districts of Jhunjhunu and Sikar in northeastern Rajasthan, derives its name from Rao Shekha (1433-88) a scion of the house of Jaipur's Kachhwaha clan.  The havelis or mansions in this region, from which hail some of the most established names of Indian industry, serve up a delectable banquet of aesthetic delight in terms of architecture and painting.The havelis here display a curious case of one-upmanship as each of Shekhawati's wealthy residents entered a competition to outshine the other. They embellished the walls of their fancy mansions (already spilling with carpets from Bukhara, gem stone embedded artifacts from Afghanistan and the finest Chinese silks that money could buy off the Silk Route) with a profusion of frescoes in the style  known as fresco buono which was developed in the 14th century in Italy. But then they walked away from it all when the British opened up better opportunities for trade in the thriving port cities of Calcutta and Bombay. These merchant princes of Shekhawati, the affluent Marwari community and owners of these stunning havelis in Rajsathan's desert, left them