You won’t find Malji Ka Kamra, a heritage haveli that had sloped into gentle decline in the obscure village of Churu in Rajasthan, in popular travel guides, travel shows, and perhaps not even through word of mouth. Now resurrected, the haveli is like a jewel lost in time, waiting to be rediscovered by simply stepping off the train into another era.
As our taxi swerved through the narrow bylanes of the town, it was like travelling through an endless mural, with forts, temples and havelis as proud testimonies to Shekhawati architecture and art. It is another matter that the cliche of small town India is also part of the travelscape—mosquito-infested open drains and the stench of sewage that clearly has gone unnoticed by Churu’s municipal officers in spite of the inspiration of Swachh Bharat.
After having driven barely half a kilometre, our car halted in front of a three-storeyed, cyan-coloured building with elaborate balconies and finely wrought pillars that define the graceful arches. Malji Ka Kamra is a deceptive name, suggesting one-room hospitality. Far from it, the property is a massive piece of heritage rebirth that welcomes you with a warm embrace and a cold glass of salted lassi.
In 1905, Malji Kothari, a rich merchant of the Kothari clan of Churu, wanted a place to entertain his wealthy friends. He imagined a gigantic mansion with enough space and beauty that could be theatre of dance, music and feasting. Kothari completed building it by 1920, and named it Rang Mahal, where musicians, dancers and performers of all kinds came to entertain the merchant and his royal visitors from far flung cities, as well as Bikaner.
The music stopped at Rang Mahal when Kothari, a compulsive gambler, lost a good part of his fortune. Residents whisper that the taste for placing a good bet hasn’t disappeared from Churu yet. With no money left to maintain Rang Mahal, Kothari had no choice but to lease it to the District Collectorate’s Office and the Superintendent of Police. In the end, it was handed over to the Churu Municipal Corporation Office. Finally, before being abandoned, it had a short career as a local music school, which too shut shop in 1983. By then, Rang Mahal was turning into a ruin, and was illegally occupied by squatters from nearby localities. And, like in the case of most abandoned buildings, it got the gloomy reputation of a bhoot bangla—a haunted house—around which endless spine-chilling stories of witches and demons were woven by the residents of Churu.
In 2005, Anand Balan, a lawyer and resident of Churu, decided to bring back the long lost lustre of the moribund haveli. First he bought the property from Malji’s descendants. Under his initiative, the restoration process began. It took seven years from 2005 to 2012 of painstaking re-creation, and the erstwhile Rang Mahal was reborn in its newfound colours as a heritage hotel, with 14 rooms, warm service and lots of customised city sightseeing opportunities.
The irony of the past never loses its ability to surprise. Anand’s grandfather Pema Ramji once upon a time worked as Malji’s household help, taking care of the children of the rich visitors. He knew every nook and corner of the old building as he had spent long hours toiling there for meagre pay. “It’s still unbelievable. Our grandfather slogged here to make ends meet and we’re now the proprieters. Wherever he is, Pema Ramji would have been a happy man today,” says Anand, who is the spirit behind the restoration effort while it has been left to his son to gives you personalised hospitality experiences. The architecture is a smorgasbord of influences and images; figures of British soldiers keep the company of dancing women, carvings of gods and goddesses, performing artistes, celestial figures, queens and kings all find place in Malji ka Kamra, amid Italian influences executed in stucco style.
The front facade is a hierarchy of faces exhibiting a variety of expressions; amused on the bottom layer, sad in the middle and exuberantly joyful on top. The haveli has 14 big and small rooms in total, with large balconies and untouched murals from yesteryears. It’s only been a year since the hotel opened for business and Deepak, a hands-on hotelier, hopes it would gather popularity soon. He has personally curated the artworks inside the building and says each lends a hand in contributing to the story of the haveli.
Resembling a museum somewhat, the interiors are colourful and display a variety of artefacts. On one side near the staircase, the walls boast of vintage bowls made of paper and gawan (cattle feed), a wooden money box, some spice boxes, agricultural implements and even a chakki (a stone mill). Some portions of the walls are decorated with representative photographs of opulent homes of bygone merchants.
At Churu, life lazes in the seasons. It’s perfect for those looking for a quick break, especially from Delhi since it’s only four and a half hours away by train. Malji Ka Kamra is one of the very few heritage properties in the city, which has a dearth of comfortable lodging facilities. In Churu, the traveller is confronted with a definitive past; archetypal Rajasthani frescoes along the roadside, windows embellished with complicated jail work, and even gold leaf glittering in the October sun which falls on some buildings.
Rajasthan is a state where the past never sleeps and the present is a museum of surprises, small and big. Like Malji Ka Kamra.
