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<ul><li><strong>This week, in our series of those destinations that have <em>thankfully </em>escaped the travel radar of most, we explore a quaint little gem at the heart of <keyword id="6355588" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="rajasthan">Rajasthan</keyword> - <keyword id="230549" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bundi">Bundi</keyword>.<br /><br /></strong></li><li><strong>The town has some surprisingly decent cafes, a rustic old palace and a fort that provides brilliant views of the town.<br /><br /></strong></li><li><strong>So enamoured was <keyword id="125757" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rudyard-Kipling">Rudyard Kipling</keyword> with the <keyword id="10605166" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="bundi-palace">Bundi Palace</keyword> that he mentioned the same in his Letters of Marque.</strong></li></ul>Around 480 kilometres from New Delhi, the charming little town of Bundi presents all the experiences tourists throng to Rajasthan for, sans the crowds. Flanked by the <keyword id="177600" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aravalli">Aravalli</keyword> hills on one side, Bundi possesses all the charms sought by travellers who want to escape from the urban space. Narrow village lanes, old houses painted in blue to keep them cool during the summer months, a few cows ambling away with not a care in the world, some surprisingly decent cafes, a rustic old palace and a fort that provides brilliant views of the town.<br /><br />Advertising professional, Kanishka Vashisht, has visited Bundi, not once, but twice. Here’s what he had to say: “Bundi was a laid back dream. No pushers trying to sell you anything or do some 'pooja'. Our peaceful heritage haveli 'Dev Nivas' was awesome with yum food and calming views. Bundi is how <keyword id="56942" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="PUSHKAR">Pushkar</keyword> should be. Less crowded with tourists, friendly locals and even a government-approved bhang shop to make your 'trip' magical.” Abhimanyu Mukherji, an SAP service delivery manager, echoes this sentiment: “Bundi is not your fancy plan-it-with-family-vacation destination, yet it has all the quintessentially Rajasthan feels to it. It has a fort, lake, and little pretty boutique heritage hotels all packed in sleepy little town ignored by urban civilisation. In between the narrow lanes, and the cows grazing its pathways, don’t be surprised if you get charmed by it all in the most unexpected ways.”<br /><br /><strong>Here are a few of the places you must visit: <br /><br />          <div type="image" title="Jait Sagar Lake, Bundi" msid="80301302" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Jait Sagar Lake, Bundi&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br /></strong><br /><strong>Jait Sagar Lake and Kshar Bagh (Saar Bagh)</strong>: Around 1.5 in length, the Jait Sagar lake is often dotted with lotus flowers, especially in winters and monsoons. Close to the lake's eastern end is a slightly dilapidated Kshar Bagh that features some gorgeous cenotaphs with intricate carvings of elephants and horses. While it is not open to the public, you may be able to ask the caretaker to let you in for a quick glimpse. There is, however, a picnic spot nearby that is frequented by tourists.<br /><br />              <div type="image" title="Bundi" msid="80301396" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;View from Taragarh Fort&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br /><br /><strong>Bundi Palace (<keyword id="4513603" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="garh-palace">Garh Palace</keyword>)</strong>: So enamoured was Rudyard Kipling with the Palace that he mentioned the same in his Letters of Marque: “Jaipur Palace may be called the Versailles of India … Jodhpur’s House of strife, gray towers on red rock, is the work of giants, but the Palace of Bundi, even in broad daylight, is such a palace as men build for themselves in uneasy dreams – the work of goblins rather than of men.” Need we say more? Some portions of the Palace may be in need of some upkeep, but the charm remains. While some areas are closed to the public, the parts that are open host some gorgeous murals and engravings. The Palace complex is massive and contains within it a bunch of smaller palaces, each steeped in history. <br /><br />              <div type="image" title="Taragarh Fort" msid="80301325" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Taragarh Fort, Bundi&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br /><br /><strong><keyword id="2033759" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Taragarh-Fort">Taragarh Fort</keyword></strong>: This fourteenth-century fort is a short trek up from the Palace. The walls are adorned with beautiful artwork, engravings and mirrors. The fort also promises a spectacular view of the city and the lake below. The outdoor garden area is well kept and is a great place to relax, soak in the beauty, and is great for photo-ops. <br /><br />              <div type="image" title="Bundi" msid="80301339" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Nutella crepes at Blue Bundi Cafe &amp;amp; Restaurant&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br /><strong>Cafe’s and Restaurant</strong>: You will be surprised that this unassuming little town has a host of brilliant cafes and restaurants serving a great variety of continental as well as Indian cuisine. Should you be heading there, do visit the Blue Bundi Cafe &amp; Restaurant. A precarious set of stairs may look dubious at first but what lies above is a perfect location for some sumptuous pizzas, pancakes, and more. Professional chef, Tarannum Sehgal, has travelled to Bundi thrice, she says, “Bundi is a secret I never wanted to share. That’s how quaint and untouched this place is and I hope it stays like that. For me, it’s all the Rajasthan feels packed in one small town. Right from the stay in old forts to streets freckled with French and Israeli cafes that serve right from the local Laal Maas to the best Nutella Crepes and thin hand-rolled pizzas with the backdrop of the Bundi castle.”<br /><br />SEE ALSO:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/travel/article/travel-buffs-tell-you-where-to-veer-off-the-highway-in-chhattisgarh-to-find-some-lesser-known-gems/articleshow/80192152.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Travel buffs tell you where to veer off the highway in Chhattisgarh to find some lesser-known gems</a><br />

The forgotten little town of Bundi in Rajasthan is a treasure waiting to be unearthed

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Catherine McCormack</span></p><p class="caption">Catherine McCormack.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Catherine McCormack is a writer and art history lecturer based in London. She regularly teaches at Sotheby's Institute of Art, Dulwich Picture Gallery and UCL, where she completed her PhD and was a Teaching Fellow.</strong></li><li><strong>The following is an excerpt from her book, "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Art-Looking-Up-Catherine-McCormack/dp/0711242178">The Art of Looking Up</a>."</strong></li><li><strong>In it, McCormack looks at 40 ceilings around the world and examines their impact.</strong></li><li><strong>Here, she focuses on the power that ceilings can convey, focusing on the intriguing history of Blenheim Palace - Sir Winston Churchill's ancestral home.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></strong></li></ul><p>The easiest way to overwhelm is from above, as this is the vantage point from which all authority tends to descend. And so it follows that, in spaces of power, such as at the palaces of royalty, autocracy, and rulership, the ceiling becomes an exercise in communicating that domination. This is achieved through the incorporation of various messages signaling such things as immense wealth and immortality. Portrayed with sentiments ranging from intimidation to whimsy, they are realized in ways that range from painterly ingenuity in composition to the use of beetles and bees. For example, ceilings such as the "Allegory of Divine Providence at Palazzo" Barberini in Rome or the Sala dei Giganti in Palazzo del Te, Mantua, employ a <em>sotto in su</em> technique. Literally meaning "from below to above," this involves the extreme foreshortening of figures and objects in order to create the effect that they are suspended in the air, at times bearing down and entering into the space of the beholder beneath (who duly flinches in anticipation). A similar interrogation and sense of the patron's presence can be felt on the North Portico of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, in the form of a sequence of disembodied eyes.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of White Lion Publishing</span></p><p class="caption">The Art of Looking Up.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>While ... ceilings range from medieval Granada to Rajasthan and Turkey, there is one age that dominates: the age of absolutist authority in Europe, of prince-bishops, popes, and kings. It is no coincidence that the Würzburg Residence, Banqueting House in Whitehall Palace, and Palazzo Barberini all share the common theme of apotheosis - the elevation of the princely individual to sit with the gods in an imagined kingdom of immortality, as performed across these grandiose ceilings with blousy pomp, conceit and vainglory.</p><p>However, not all ceilings in the palaces of the powerful are so baldly egotistical. By contrast, the Muslim palaces of the Alhambra in Granada, Topkapı in Istanbul, and Bundi Palace in Rajasthan, strike a more humble chord. While no less visually impressive and sensually rich, they reference the spirituality of creation and the flow of life without recourse to mythologizing self-aggrandizement. With power, there is also the luxury of time to indulge in pleasure, leisure and comedy, examples of which range from the elegant confines of Catherine the Great's Chinese Palace at Oranienbaum, St Petersburg, to the witty and unexpected view from below in Vicenza's Palazzo Chiericati's Sala del Firmamento.</p>

A ceiling in Winston Churchill's ancestral home tells the story of an eccentric duchess

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The forgotten little town of Bundi in Rajasthan is a treasure waiting to be unearthed

Kavita Majumdar

A ceiling in Winston Churchill's ancestral home tells the story of an eccentric duchess

Catherine McCormack

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