Former pleasure palace now a glorious haven of tranquillity
By Julie Miller
After a day on India’s roads enduring honking horns, crater-sized potholes and interminable delays, and with a migraine splitting my skull from ear to ear, I’m in no mood for the zen-like welcome at Rajbari Bawali, a heritage hotel located on the outskirts of Kolkata in West Bengal.
I snap at the porter attempting to unburden me of my suitcase, and snarl at a goddess tasked with placing a smear of vermillion tilak between my brows. Suitably blessed, I am then whisked away to an upstairs veranda, handed a glass of much-needed red and invited by hotel owner Ajay Rawla to relax and enjoy the spectacle playing out before me.
Rajbari Bawali’s a temple-like facade is dazzling in its grandeur.
Through the picture windows is an epic theatre backdrop worthy of a Bollywood movie – a massive courtyard, surrounded on three sides by illuminated arches and on the fourth by candle-lit steps leading to six neo-classical columns, a temple-like facade dazzling in its grandeur.
At the base of the staircase, two Baul mystics clad in orange dhotis and waist-length dreadlocks hypnotise with their accordion and duggi drones; then in glide four Bengali dancers, resplendent in gold-embellished silks, sashaying barefoot in elegant classical dance.
I’m transfixed, my headache vanishing as Rawla shares the story of how he stumbled upon this dramatic palace, and the restoration project that became an obsession, possessing every fibre of his being.
A successful textile manufacturer, Rawla was scouting for a factory in 2008 when he came across the intriguing ruin in the village of Bawali, 36 kilometres from Kolkata.
A pool, lush tropical gardens, open-air pavilions and ponds filled with quacking ducks create a haven of tranquillity.
“It looked like Angkor Wat, completely overgrown and crumbling, with trees and vines growing out of the brickwork,” Rawla tells me. “I knew immediately I had to have it, I couldn’t sleep for thinking about it. It possessed me.”
The 250-year-old architectural masterpiece had once been the pleasure palace of the powerful Mondal dynasty, occupying land gifted to an army officer by Akbah the Great for his role in quelling a rebellion. Post-Independence, however, the house fell into disrepair; just one elderly family member remained, occupying one snake-infested wing without power or running water.
But buying the crumbling ruin was no simple feat. First Rawla had to track down all 18 owners, dispersed all over the globe; he then doggedly bought it piecemeal, a process that took two years.
“I needed to buy it so no-one could knock it down,” Rawla recalls. “But you don’t own the Rajbari – it owns you!”
Wanting the mansion to retain its integrity, Rawla employed a team of master masons to repair the brickwork; while local craftsmen were trained in the art of limewashing by the Aga Khan Foundation, which had restored Humayan’s Tomb in Delhi.
The heritage hotel has retained its original shutters, teak doors, marble flooring and cast iron railings.
The result is as subtle as it is evocative, with some areas left untouched as a romantic nod to its past. Recycled materials such as original shutters, teak doors, marble flooring and cast iron railings have been extensively utilised, while quirky antiques including lavish four-poster beds, gilded mirrors, old wooden rickshaws and a retro Rajdoot motorbike converted into a bar are indicative of Rawla’s eye for aesthetics.
With 29 exquisite guest rooms and suites, lush tropical gardens, open-air pavilions, ponds filled with quacking ducks and secret nooks with swing chairs, Rawla has created a glorious haven of tranquillity that truly captures an era of privilege and opulence.
Step outside the palace walls, however, and you are immediately immersed in village life: hammers resound in preparation for a wedding celebration, women in colourful saris stop to chat en route to the corner store, and bicycles zip along a pathway that winds past fishing ponds and rice fields. All as evocative as what lies within.
THE DETAILS
Fly
Air India has flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Mumbai via Delhi. See airindia.in
Stay
Accommodation at the Rajbari Bawali in a Classic Heritage Room (including breakfast) starts from 6160 rupees per night (A$112). See therajbari.com
Packages to India including stays at Rajbari are available through Mantra Wild. See mantrawild.com.au
The writer travelled as a guest of Mantra Wild.
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