The Great Mansions of Billionaires

A former home of opulence
Forgotten in the barren landscapes of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, the Shekhawati region was once home to the unabashed opulence of India’s billionaires. Today, many of the billionaires’ grand havelis (mansions) are crumbling – the fading frescoes marking the only vestiges of the area’s vanished glory.

Drenching the dusty towns in colour
With paintings covering nearly every inch of the grand havelis, the towns and villages of Shekhawati encompass the world’s largest concentration of magnificent frescoes in a single region. To protect these once grand estates from crumbling further, two districts within Shekhawati have banned the sale of the havelis to anyone who could harm their heritage look. Their aim is to conserve and promote Shekhawati as a tourist destination.

The rise of merchant success
Founded by the eponymous Rajput chieftain Rao Shekha in the late 15th Century, Shekhawati prospered immensely at the turn of the 19th Century. The region reduced taxes to lure merchants and diverted all caravan trade from the nearby commercial centres of Jaipur and Bikaner. Merchants belonging to the Marwari and Bania community, a renowned ethnic trading group in India, moved into Shekhawati from the surrounding towns, and amassed great wealth through a  flourishing trade in opium, cotton and spices. Modest merchant homes started giving way to grand mansions by the end of the 19th Century.

Where wealth melds with artistic expression
When trade moved from caravan routes to sea routes and railways in the 1820s, Rajasthan’s trade centres were on a steady decline. However, the enterprising merchants of Shekhawati followed the money trail and moved to the fledgling port towns of Bombay and Calcutta on the Indian coast, sending back enormous amounts of money to their homes in Shekhawati and thus heralding an era of uniquely painted havelis that acted as lavish displays of wealth.

Many courtyards and elaborate designs
Most Havelis were built in a similar architectural style – usually two storied buildings with two to four open courtyards arranged within a rectangular block. Each courtyard and the corresponding rooms were designated for specific purposes. The first courtyard after entering the house was for men and their business dealings, the second was for women and the other two were for cooking and animal stables. But the merchants left no stone unturned in giving their mansions a distinct look, with ornately carved wooden entrances, pompous mirror work and the defining differentiator: ostentatious paintings depicting daily life and mythology.

Frescoes adorn every surface
Inspired by the 17th-century ochre frescoes introduced by the Rajput kings of Jaipur in Amer Fort, the merchants commissioned intricate paintings on every inch of the mansion walls – including exteriors, interiors, ceilings and even the spaces under the arches and eaves. Scenes from the ancient Hindu epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana – along with plenty of decorative floral designs and patterns – were the most common motifs featured in the frescoes for a large part of the 19th Century.

A wide range of colours 
Painters were first commissioned from the city of Jaipur, but after noticing a rising interest in frescoes, members from the potter community in Shekhawati started learning the craft and created a proliferation of distinct styles across different villages. It is not entirely clear if the artists had full reign over the designs or if they were given specific instructions in choosing patterns and mythological scenes.
Before the mid-19th Century, traditional pigments made from minerals and vegetables dominated the colour palette, with intense shades of reds, maroons, indigo, lapis lazuli and copper blue along with bright yellow supposedly made out cow’s urine. Starting 1860s, synthetic pigments came into use, which were cheaper and offered a wide range of new colours.

Mixing myth and the modern
By the early 20th Century, the frescoes began depicting European influences and modern advancements – recollections from what the well-travelled merchants had seen in the big cities. In some rare cases, the painters were sent to observe and recreate the scenes. Among the traditional motifs, there are frescoes of Queen Elizabeth, Jesus, cherubs, steam engines and gramophones, as well as whacky creations mixing mythology with modern inventions, such as Hindu gods in chauffeur-driven cars (pictured).

Abandoned for good
The havelis and frescoes of Shekhawati blossomed until the early 20th Century; after which, the rich business tycoons left the desert wasteland for better opportunities in bustling metropolises like Bombay and Calcutta and even abroad. After the trade moved elsewhere, there was little development in the arid lands of Shekhawati, and the havelis were abandoned for good.
Some of the biggest names in the Indian and global business scene today – including the likes of the steel baron Laxmi Mittal, Kumar Birla of Aditya Birla Group, pharmaceutical billionaire Ajay Piramal and Nepal’s only billionaire, Binod K Chaudhary, had their origins in the villages of Shekhawati. In fact, according to Forbes, almost 25% of India’s 100 richest were from Shekhawati.

The high cost of upkeep
By the 1950s, the thriving towns that had raised these billionaires were falling into steady despair. Selling or renovating these rural family bungalows – some of which could house up to 50 families at once – is a difficult job. The cost of upkeep is high and many of the properties, usually shared between multiple heirs, are embroiled in legal disputes. But since havelis are private properties, the government cannot do much to preserve them.

A new life for the Shekhawati mansions
Luckily, the beauty and cultural significance of these painted havelis is not lost on everyone. In 1999, French artist Nadine Le Prince bought the 1802-built Nand Lal Devra Haveli (now called Nadine Le Prince Cultural Centre) and painstakingly restored it to its former glory in the town of Fatehpur. In the neighbouring towns of Dunlod and Nawalgarh, Seth Arjun Das Goenka Haveli and Shri Jairam Dasji Morarka’s family mansions have also been restored and turned into museums for public viewings. A few other havelis-turned-museums are scattered in the hinterlands of Shekhawati, and some like Malji ka Kamra, Koolwal Kothi and Castle Mandawa have been turned into heritage hotels.
While some of the havelis may crumble and fall apart – their glory lives on in others. 

The Forgotten Empire...

An abandoned city of ghosts
Ruled by a dizzying array of kingdoms and empires over the centuries – from the Byzantines to the Ottomans – the city of Ani once housed many thousands of people, becoming a cultural hub and regional power under the medieval Bagratid Armenian dynasty. Today, it’s an eerie, abandoned city of ghosts that stands alone on a plateau in the remote highlands of northeast Turkey, 45km away from the Turkish border city of Kars. As you walk among the many ruins, left to deteriorate for over 90 years, the only sound is the wind howling through a ravine that marks the border between Turkey and Armenia.

The toll of many rulers
Visitors who pass through Ani’s city walls are greeted with a panoramic view of ruins that span three centuries and five empires – including the Bagratid Armenians, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, Georgians and Ottomans. The Ani plateau was ceded to Russia once the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War. After the outbreak of World War I, the Ottomans fought to take back northeast Anatolia, and although they recaptured Ani and the surrounding area, the region was given to the newly formed Republic of Armenia. The site changed hands for the last time after the nascent Turkish Republic captured it during the 1920 eastern offensive in the Turkish War of Independence.

A hotly contested territory
The ruins of an ancient bridge over the Akhurian River, which winds its way at the bottom of the ravine to create a natural border, are fitting given the vexed state of Turkish-Armenian relations. The two countries have long disagreed over the mass killings of Armenians that took place under the Ottoman Empire during World War I, and Turkey officially closed its land border with Armenia in 1993 in response to a territorial conflict between Armenia and Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan.

A bid to save the ruins
Although the focus on Turkish-Armenian tension preoccupies most discussion of Ani, there’s an ongoing effort by archaeologists and activists to save the ruins, which have been abandoned in favour of more accessible and less historically contested sites from classical antiquity. Historians have long argued for Ani’s importance as a forgotten medieval nexus, and as a result, Ani is now on a tentative list for recognition as a Unesco World Heritage Site. With some luck and careful restoration work, which has begun in 2011, they may be able to forestall the hands of time.

‘The City of 1,001 Churches’
At its height during the 11th Century, scholars estimate that Ani’s population reached as high as 100,000 people. Artistic renderings based on the site’s archaeological findings show a bustling medieval centre crowded with myriad homes, artisanal workshops and impressive churches scattered throughout.
Known as “The City of 1,001 Churches”, Ani’s Armenian rulers and city merchants funded an extraordinary number of places of worship, all designed by the greatest architectural and artistic minds in their milieu. Although the nickname was hyperbole, archaeologists have discovered evidence of at least 40 churches, chapels and mausoleums to date.

An imposing cathedral
A rust-coloured brick redoubt, the Cathedral of Ani looms over the now-abandoned city. Although its dome collapsed in an earthquake in 1319 – and, centuries later, another earthquake destroyed its northwest corner – it is still imposing in scale. It was completed in 1001 under the reign of Armenian King Gagik I, when the wealth and population of Ani was at its peak. Trdat, the renowned Armenian architect who designed it, also served the Byzantines by helping them repair the dome of the Hagia Sophia.

Half of a church
Only one half of the Church of the Redeemer remains – a monument to both the artistic prowess of the Armenian Bagratid Dynasty and the inevitability of time. Propped up by extensive scaffolding now, the church was an impressive architectural feat when it was built. It featured 19 archways and a dome, all made from local reddish-brown volcanic basalt.
The church also housed a fragment of the True Cross, upon which Jesus was crucified. The church’s patron, Prince Ablgharib Pahlavid, reportedly obtained the relic during a visit to the Byzantine court at Constantinople.

A church fit for a prince
Built sometime in the late 10th Century, the Church of St Gregory of the Abughamrentsis a stoic-looking, 12-sided chapel that has a dome carved with blind arcades: arches that are purely for embellishment instead of leading to a portal. In the early 1900s, a mausoleum was discovered buried under the church’s north side, likely containing the remains of the church’s patron, Prince Grigor Pahlavuni of the Bagratid Armenians, and his kin. Unfortunately, like many of the sites at Ani, the prince’s sepulchre was looted in the 1990s.

The remnants of an underground city
Opposite the Church of St Gregory of the Abughamrentsare a series of caves dug out of the rock, which some historians speculate may predate Ani. The caves are sometimes described as Ani’s “underground city” and signs point to their use as tombs and churches. In the early 20th Century, some of these caves were still used as dwellings.

Frescoes cover the walls
The Church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents is one of Ani’s best preserved buildings, adorned with remnants of paintings depicting scenes from the life of Christ and St Gregory the Illuminator. Detailed fresco cycles did not ordinarily appear in Armenian art of the era, leading scholars to believe the artists were most likely Georgian.

An Islamic minaret still stands
The Seljuk Empire – a Turkish state in Anatolia that drove out the Byzantines and eventually gave way to the Ottoman Empire – controlled the greater area of what is today northeast Turkey and Armenia beginning in the mid-1000s. However, in 1072, the Seljuks granted control of Ani to an Islamic dynasty of Kurdish origin, the Shaddadids. The Shaddadids, in turn, left their mark on Ani with buildings like the mosque of Manuchihr, which is perched precariously on the edge of the cliff. Its minaret is still standing from when the mosque was constructed in the late 1000s; the rest of the mosque is most likely an addition from the 12th or 13th Centuries.

Origins up for debate
The original purpose of the mosque of Manuchihr is debated on both the Turkish and Armenian sides. Some contend that the building once served as a palace for the Armenian Bagratid dynasty and was only later converted into a mosque. Others argue that the structure was built as a mosque from the ground up, and thus was the first Turkish mosque in Anatolia. From 1906 to 1918, the mosque served as a museum of findings from Ani’s excavation by the Russian archaeologist Nicholas Marr. Regardless of the building’s origins, the mosque’s four elegant windows display spectacular views of the river and the other side of the gorge.

Once formidable city walls
Ani’s city walls may seem ready to crumble, but when they were constructed in the 10th Century, they made for a formidable defence. The Bagratid family of kings built them in order to fortify their new capital and, over the centuries, they protected the city’s occupants against siege after siege by various armies. These ramparts, along with Ani’s inhabitants, witnessed bloody conflicts between the Bagratids and the Byzantines, and the Byzantines and the Seljuks.
Despite Ani’s history as a field of warfare, the ruins also represent many periods throughout history where the city saw a remarkable interchange of cultures, religions and artistic motifs.

You Can Buy A Cave Home...

Guadix has the largest number of cave homes in Europe, with more than 2,000 underground dwellings..

Spain’s cave country is the unspoilt Altiplano de Granada – a mountainous region of northern Andalusia, between the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra de Castril. In the market towns of Guadix, Baza and Huescar, there are entire districts of caves; in some of the surrounding villages, they are the only form of housing.

They owe their existence to the region’s peculiar geology – eruptions of rock formed from the sediments of a prehistoric sea. The region’s cave-dwelling tradition began with the Moors, but most were built (or carved) in the 19th century by peasant farmworkers. And thanks to the user-friendly nature of underground life in a hot, dry climate, it’s a tradition that’s never died out. The number of modern cave-dwellers in the Granada province runs into the thousands.

Upon arrival at the bus station, Guadix looked like any other small Andalucían town, with whitewashed townhouses and charming, shaded plazas. But when we  climbed to the top of the hill, a strange Martian-like landscape will appeare before us.

Russet-coloured craggy hills punctuated the skyline and vast desert-like plains were framed by the soaring Sierra Nevada mountain range. Upon closer inspection, I could see small white chimneys poking out of the hills and front doors cut into the side of the rock, like Hobbit homes.

At the Barrio de Cuevas or the Neighbourhood of Caves, where much of the town’s population lives underground. Known as the trogloditas (troglodytes), locals have been living in these caves for hundreds of years..

Cave dwellings are among some of the oldest accommodations known to man. Usually they envisage a cramped, damp, and cold space that at most could serve as protection form the element until something better could be found or constructed. Well, the times have definitely changed.

Spain has thousands of modern-day “cave-dwellers” who call these literal holes in the wall their home. From Guadix to Galera and all across the Altiplano area, there are some incredibly beautiful houses carved out of the Andalucian mountainous rocks although there are many other areas throughout Spain which also advertise cave living as a viable option.

In Granada, there are numerous areas where cave dwelling is the norm. For example, the Albaycin and Sacromonte area of Granada City contain many cave homes and interestingly enough form part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Alhambra Palace. The mountainsides of the Baza region are dotted with doors to leading to these cave homes. The mountainous region Guadix is another famous area for cave construction with a hundreds of dwellings.

Most of these regions have long histories in terms of cave settlement, some which can trace their early days to Arab Spain, over 500 years ago. In fact, cave dwelling has been a tradition in North Africa for over 1000 years. People in these regions have become experts in all facets of cave construction with many people having generations of expertise within their family.

What makes living in a cave so attractive? Well, first of all, it has to be said that cave-dwelling is not for everyone. Cave communities tend to be in small villages where stimulating entertainment might be difficult to find. It is definitely a rural lifestyle.

However, cave houses offer a number of distinct advantages. Damp, dark, cluttered, and claustrophobic areas they are not. Certain cave dwellings can have 8 or more bedrooms and gigantic living space as well.

Cave houses are also easier to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. Being constructed in stone, their temperature does not reflect the sometimes violent temperature changes can occur in Andalucia. In fact, the average ambient temperature usually stays around 20 degrees Celsius. While the weather outside does its thing, cave homes stay stable.

Cave houses can also cost a fraction to construct when compared to other types of homes on the market. Usually a viable cave which is also licensed to be modified is set upon by people who have a long background in cave house renovations. They excavate the interior taking great care to preserve any little features that exist that will add to the maintaining each caves special feel. The construction can reasonably rapid and the result will be a cave dwelling that is not only new but unique. No two cave houses are the same, which adds to their charm.

Once you are inside a cave house, you will probably find yourself surprised with how open it feels. 

There is no sense of being underground or cooped up – instead, it feels warm and cosy. The sound is softened and almost muffled and the lighting belies conventional wisdom.

Builders of cave dwellings work wonders with light because they have to. Most cave homes are oriented to take advantage of the natural light that exists, often facing southward and the building layout also allows for the natural light to penetrate into the home as much as possible. However, there is also ingenious use of artificial light as well. Lighting might be disguised as a false window or emanate from a specially-carved place in the wall like a fountain. The creativity of these artists is depthless.

Specially constructed light ducts can also be made to allow the access of natural light into the home. Often the builders utilise drilling equipment use to make wells for this use. The light is then reflected through duct work to ensure the most light possible reaches the home. The typical white matte finish of cave homes also does much to transmit light throughout the building.

Cave dwelling is safe. They are not prone to collapse, fires, or earthquakes. Their number one enemy can be an accumulation of water or excess moisture. Caves survive earthquakes and fires. They can also be reinforced if the need be but once again, this is usually not a problem. A cave that can breathe is a healthy one. Ventilation is important, especially with the use of gas appliances. As a rule of thumb, gas should be avoided as much as possible, especially gas heaters. Constructors will usually take into account the use of gas in the layout of the home, with any such appliances being toward the front of the cave.

If cave living seems like it might be an option to you, why not look for a place to rent and see how you enjoy the experience? There are numerous companies especially in the province of Granada that rent cave homes by the day, week, or even for the long term. Give it a try and see if it is for you. Even if you are not planning to buy one, staying a while in a cave house can be a fantastic experience. It would definitely classify as a different type of vacation and due to their locations, it will afford you a chance to experience real village life in Spain as opposed to a glitzy vacation in some coastal resort.

This lower cost of a cave home makes them attractive to those people who might want to enter into the housing market but are not afforded many options. Their layouts are as variable as there are caves. Moreover, by their very nature, they are energy-efficient dwellings, making the most of nature. For those of you who take pride in being “green” and care about reducing your carbon footprint, a cave house might just be the thing for you.

If you want to know more about buying or building a cave house, there are many specialist estate agents dealing in this type of property, both in the Huescar and Baza area of the Altiplano region of Granada, as well as in the town of Guadix.

Excellent Army In 221 B.C.

     The Terracotta Army is one of the top attractions in China. It is significant because the hundreds of detailed life-size models represent the army that triumphed over all other Chinese armies in the Warring States Period, and who ushered in the united imperial China era 2,200 years ago.
     It is considered one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world, and one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century.


 In March 1974, a group of peasants digging a well in drought-parched Shaanxi province in northwest China unearthed fragments of a clay figure—the first evidence of what would turn out to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of modern times. Near the unexcavated tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi—who had proclaimed himself first emperor of China in 221 B.C.—lay an extraordinary underground treasure: an entire army of life-size terra cotta soldiers and horses, interred for more than 2,000 years

    The site, where Qin Shi Huangdi's ancient capital of Xianyang once stood, lies a half-hour drive from traffic-clogged Xi'an (pop. 8.5 million). It is a dry, scrubby land planted in persimmon and pomegranate—bitterly cold in winter and scorching hot in summer—marked by dun-colored hills pocked with caves. But hotels and a roadside souvenir emporium selling five-foot-tall pottery figures suggest that something other than fruit cultivation is going on here.

     Over the past 35 years, archaeologists have located some 600 pits, a complex of underground vaults as yet largely unexcavated, across a 22-square-mile area. Some are hard to get to, but three major pits are easily accessible, enclosed inside the four-acre Museum of the Terracotta Army, constructed around the discovery site and opened in 1979. In one pit, long columns of warriors, reassembled from broken pieces, stand in formation.With their topknots or caps, their tunics or armored vests, their goatees or close-cropped beards, the soldiers exhibit an astonishing individuality. A second pit inside the museum demonstrates how they appeared when they were found: some stand upright, buried to their shoulders in soil, while others lie toppled on their backs, alongside fallen and cracked clay horses. The site ranks with the Great Wall and Beijing's Forbidden City as one of the premier tourist attractions within China.

    For those unable to make the journey to Xi'an, some of the choicest specimens unearthed there form the centerpiece of two successive traveling exhibitions that survey the reign of Qin Shi Huangdi (221 B.C.-210 B.C.). "The First Emperor," organized by the British Museum, debuted in London before moving to the High Museum in Atlanta. A second show, "Terra Cotta Warriors," then opened at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California. It is now at the Houston Museum of Natural Science through October 18, and then moves to the National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. for display from November 19 to March 31, 2010.

     In addition to showcasing recent finds, the exhibitions feature the largest collection of terra cotta figures ever to leave China. The statuary includes nine soldiers arranged in battle formation (armored officers, infantrymen, and standing and kneeling archers), as well as a terra cotta horse. Another highlight is a pair of intricately detailed, ten-foot-long bronze chariots, each drawn by four bronze horses. (Too fragile to be transported, the chariots are represented by replicas.) The artifacts offer a glimpse of the treasures that attract visitors from around the world to the Xi'an museum site, where 1,900 of an estimated 7,000 warriors have been disinterred so far.

     The stupendous find at first seemed to reinforce conventional thinking—that the first emperor had been a relentless warmonger who cared only for military might. As archaeologists have learned during the past decade, however, that assessment was incomplete. Qin Shi Huangdi may have conquered China with his army, but he held it together with a civil administration system that endured for centuries. Among other accomplishments, the emperor standardized weights and measures and introduced a uniform writing script.

     Recent digs have revealed that in addition to the clay soldiers, Qin Shi Huangdi's underground realm, presumably a facsimile of the court that surrounded him during his lifetime, is also populated by delightfully realistic waterfowl, crafted from bronze and serenaded by terra cotta musicians. The emperor's clay retinue includes terra cotta officials and even troupes of acrobats, slightly smaller than the soldiers but created with the same methods. "We find the underground pits are an imitation of the real organization in the Qin dynasty," says Duan Qingbo, head of the excavation team at the Shaanxi Provincial Research Institute for Archaeology. "People thought when the emperor died, he took just a lot of pottery army soldiers with him. Now they realize he took a whole political system with him."

      Qin Shi Huangdi decreed a mass-production approach; artisans turned out figures almost like cars on an assembly line. Clay, unlike bronze, lends itself to quick and cheap fabrication. Workers built bodies, then customized them with heads, hats, shoes, mustaches, ears and so on, made in small molds. Some of the figures appear so strikingly individual they seem modeled on real people, though that is unlikely. "These probably weren't portraits in the Western sense," says Hiromi Kinoshita, who helped curate the exhibition at the British Museum. Instead, they may have been aggregate portraits: the ceramicists, says Kinoshita, "could have been told that you need to represent all the different types of people who come from different regions of China."

                                                     Romantic!...you must visit Kashmir...