Need a quiet place to get away from the din of the city for a weekend? A quaint farmhouse just an hour’s drive from Delhi, Anupamaa Mangar, is how fashion designer Anupamaa Dayal wants travellers to enjoy the charms of rural India. Toasted for her creative genius and penchant for celebrating the exuberance of nature through her designs, this is a place where one can nourish their souls in the lap of nature, with good wholesome food, warm hospitality and untainted village air.
You can drive down to the neighbouring sacred Mangar Bani and tread on the dirt tracks, surrounded by a lush cover of Dhau trees, only accosted by peacocks who fluttered around like partridges and pigeons and hear tales about how the feathers of the national bird coat the tracks in April, the season for shedding. The sacred forest grove is protected by the local cult of ‘Gudariya Baba,’ a local mystic who is believed to have vanished in a cave in Mangar Bani.
The designer has done quite a fascinating job here. While the structure is simple, the accoutrements are colourful and worth noting. Every inch of the place bears the Anupamaa Dayal mark and she wants to take the onlooker to a realm were reality blurs and wonderland ensues.
Oversize blossoms have been painted on the façade, while jade green finds prominence inside. Modern Mughal graphics, images of Indian fairies mount the walls while colourful fabric installations have been used aplenty to decorate the rooms, all five of them. In the main living space, wall art gets a focus, with a stylised Mangar forest in the shape of the Dhau tree, winged apsaras and winged deer.
The five bedrooms are designed as per the designer’s popular collections, and are called Ishq-e-Dilli, Gulabi, Fight & Feast, Phoolbagaan and Manjula. “If not a designer, I would have been a naturalist. Anupamaa Mangar is an extension of that wish of mine,” says Anupamaa.
Mahesh is the amiable caretaker and cook who rustles up scrumptious Pahadi delicacies. “I have always been a passionate cook and teased for being a ‘spice collector’. That is why the menus are based on creative Indian flavours and my own penchant for nutritious and conscious eating. The food is organic, with leafy greens and veggies from the nearby fields,” the designer explains.
The terrace is the best place to witness the scraggy yet breathtaking Aravalli foothills in the backdrop. The space is perfect for early morning yoga and meditation, and maybe some quiet afternoon reverie in the lap of nature. Those with adventure in their arteries can also walk around the village watching birds and studying the topography. It’s a quiet little village with simple people whose mainstay is farming and dairy. Clearly, a picture-perfect forest retreat.
A room for two costs `7,800 inclusive of all meals. For more details and bookings, one can mail at
info.anupamaa@gmail.com.