Chhattra Mahal Bundi

Bundi. The very name is evocative. Translated literally it means sweetened, fried chickpea flour—a snack indigenous to Rajasthan. When applied to a small, sleepy, powder-blue painted town nestled in a deep gorge surrounded on three sides by the Aravalli hills with a spectacular fort and palace looming over it, it becomes synonymous with one of India’s best kept secrets. A secret with myriad secrets within its folds.

Founded by a gentleman of the Meena tribe who went by the name Bunda, it was annexed by Rao Deva Hada in 1342, founder of Bundi [the princely state] and Hadoti [land of the great Hada Rajputs]. Friends with the Mughals and thereafter, the British Raj, it retained its princely status till 1947. Not many venture into Bundi; neither today nor in the past. Here are five secrets I discovered in Bundi which make it the treasure trove that it is. If you know of more, please do share in the comments section.

Bundi’s most magnificent treasures are its frescoes in the Bundi-Kotah style of miniature painting (17th – 19th Century). What’s the big secret, you may ask. Well, these paintings are behind formidable poker-faced stone walls, and more often than not, also behind lock and key. Only a tiny number are open to the public, but these are enough to whet one’s appetite and hanker for more. Some of the finest examples in the miniature style often associated with paint on paper, the Bundi school found its way in its home town to the royal private rooms to create burlesques of colour and storytelling. Each “Mahal” is painted with its own inimitable palette and themes. Let me explain.

The Chitrashala in turquoise green, black, and white, tells stories of love, lust, and the gods. Chhatra Mahal is typified with its frenzy of rich reds, blues, and greens, highlighted with gold and revolves around royal life and worship. The Phool Mahal in contrast is more matter-of-fact with its muted colouring, bevies of armies, and royal figures indulging in chequered board games. Badal Mahal, meaning “cloud palace,” is the most exquisite of all with its deep-red petalled oriental ceiling and walls filled to the seams with stories of Krishna, angels and peacocks.