Bagore-ki-Haveli is a haveli

Haveli

Haveli is the term used for a private mansion in India and Pakistan. The word haveli is derived from the Persian word hawli, meaning "an enclosed place"...

 in Udaipur

Udaipur

Udaipur , also known as the City of Lakes, is a city, a Municipal Council and the administrative headquarters of the Udaipur district in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is located southwest of the state capital, Jaipur, west of Kota, and northeast from Ahmedabad...

 in Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

 state in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is right on the waterfront of Lake Pichola at Gangori Ghat. Amir Chand Badwa, the Prime Minister of Mewar

Mewar

Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...

, built it in the eighteenth century.

Overview

The palace has over a hundred rooms, with displays of costumes and modern art. The glass and mirror in the interiors are Haveli work. It also preserves an example of Mewar

Mewar

Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...

 painting on the walls of the Queen's Chamber. The two peacocks made from small pieces of colored glasses are examples of glasswork.

History

Shri Amarchand Badwa, who was the Prime Minister of Mewar from 1751 to 1778, throughout the reigns of Maharanas Pratap Singh II, Raj Singh II, Ari Singh, and Hamir Singh respectively, built this haveli. Following the death of Amarchand, the edifice came under the domain of the Mewari Royal Family and Bagore-ki-Haveli was occupied by Nath Singh, a relative of the then maharana. In 1878, the natural father of Sajjan Singh, Maharaj Shakti Singh of Bagore extended the haveli and built the triple-arched gateway, and the property remained in the possession of Mewar State until 1947. After Independence, the Government of Rajasthan used the buildings for housing Government employees, but, as with other nationalised properties, where there was nobody with a vested interest in the standards of maintenance, damage and neglect went unchecked, and for almost forty years, the haveli’s condition deteriorated to a deplorable extent. The Government was eventually persuaded to relinquish their hold on the haveli and in 1986; it was handed over to the West Zone Cultural Centre.

Restoration Work

The West Zone Cultural Centre planned to renovate the haveli into a museum. Originally, the idea was to represent the culture of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and Rajasthan, the West Zone States, in the proposed museum. However, seeing that the Haveli was an architectural museum by itself, owing to typical and charming architectural style, it was decided that it would be preserved as a museum of Mewar’s aristocratic culture.
To provide the same royal look, experts and members of the Royal family were consulted. The Haveli was restored using local and traditional materials and skills primarily. Several murals done in araish in the 18th and 19th century were uncovered, and many doors, windows and perforated screens were repaired or replaced.

Present Status

There are 138 rooms, as well as numerous corridors & balconies, courtyards and terraces. The interiors of the Haveli are embellished with intricate and fine mirror work. While strolling in the Haveli, you can also see the private quarters of the royal ladies, their bath rooms, dressing rooms, bed rooms, living rooms, worship rooms and recreation rooms.
The Chambers of the Royal Ladies still bear fine frescoes of the Mewari style and there are glorious coloured-glass windows in some of the rooms as well as two peacocks made with coloured glass mosaics that display the superb skills of the finest craftsmanship.

Unique symbols of the Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

clan, such as jewellery boxes, dice-games, hukkas, pan boxes, nut crackers, hand fans, rose water sprinklers, copper vessels and other items are also on display here.

In the evening, the haveli lightens and stages enjoyable performance of traditional dance and music of Rajasthan. The haveli looks marvelous with glowing lights in the night. Bagore Ki Haveli is a perfect place to explore the ancient architecture and life style of the royal family.