Leisure & Travel in India: Tijara Fort Palace…..Steeped In History

ACN NEWS On Aug 16, 2020

BY AKANKSHA DEAN

Rajasthan: It’s not every day you get to live in a Fort Palace. The four days at Tijara fuse into a haze of long, relaxing days. I swiftly blend into the Princess lifestyle and simple pleasures – sitting with a book in the open or lazing in the hammock near the poolside where I take in breath-taking views with every sip of my Masala Chai. It is a sheer delight to unwind in such a fashion.

A WARM WELCOME

We sweep up the hilly driveway, meters from sprawling green land. The smart doorman greets me at the entrance, makes me sanitize my hands, and checks my temperature. Good first impressions? I would say they succeed. From my arrival in the grand foyer, filled with an old-world charm and craftsmanship I am swept into another world.

The ‘Kaanch Mahal’ adjacent to the lobby grabs my attention immediately and beckons me to stop by for lunch before I actually head up to my room (read palace). I am absolutely refreshed after a delicious Rajasthani meal of local vegetables and a light chicken curry! Tijara Fort Palace…now we are talking!

HISTORY

There’s a rare charisma about staying at a property, which has stories from the 19th century. This fortress non-hotel is an unfinished brilliance of three structures, built in the Rajput-Afghan grace with initial colonial stimuli: the Mardana for the royal men, the Rani Mahal for the maharanis and a desire palace on the brink of a plateau, watching a water body called the Hawa Mahal, Palace of winds. Thus staying here makes for a great weekend getaway as it offers the exclusive chance to wake up in a once incomplete and uninhibited palace that has now been tenderly reinstated and made into a dream. It makes you step back in time and carousal in the splendors and mysteries of the past.

FOOD

The acme of my sojourn here, apart from the character and the view, is absolutely the food. Lingering through a meal is one of the vital experiences here. Somehow we just remain longer over the same amount of food; the ever-smiling restaurant staff seems in no hurry to whisk us out. Nothing can be more imperative than relishing one’s meal, they think at Neemrana’sTijara Fort Palace, and they do so correctly, I feel.

MOOD

Race for the top spot amid Delhi’s around town staycations is fierce, a continuous battle of one-upmanship as each vies to out-wow the others and shove the boundaries. Who knows what will come up with next, but for the time being Tijara Fort Palace must assuredly have the number one spot. Personally, they have me with the amazing culture blended in everything so beautifully! What a time to be alive!