A Royal Escape with Narendra Bhawan Bikaner
Bikaner, the old city that stands proud in the Thar Desert and lesser-explored than its sister cities (Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur), is reminiscent of 16th-century grandeur and medieval architecture.
Bikaner is still relatively unexplored and holds much opulence that tells the legacies of Rao Bika, the Junagarh Fort, and the red sandstone dwellings that scatter its mystic landscape. Once discovered, the city will bewitch you with its ornate buildings, antiquated temples, and an ambiance of old-world nostalgia is hard to escape from. Bikaner is dotted with scores of sand dunes that make the desert a very integral part of its imagination. Despite its dry and dusty geography, the city once ruled the trade routes between India, Central Asia, and West Asia, making it an oasis of wealth and prosperity on the coast of Gujrat.
An ode to the past
Like much of Rajasthan, Bikaner is steeped in royal history and the elegance of regal culture that overwhelms the cultural and material memory of the city with tales and legends of the visionary prince that Rao Bika was. The inhabitants of the city carry this sense of pride and nostalgia, which travelers find fascinating to immerse into. Travel as we know it has transformed, and we increasingly seek traditionally and culturally rooted experiences that are invested in the essence of a place. Narendra Bhawan in Bikaner welcomes its guests to precisely such an experience, an elaborate evocation of the history and heritage of the city that earned the name of ‘the Red City. The very home of the last Maharaja of Bikaner, His Highness Narendra Singhji, it can be now indulged in to have a taste of royal life and unbridled luxury.
An architectural memoir
Narendra Bhawan is a memoir of the last royal lineage of Bikaner. The Maharaja and his indelectable taste for art, decor, and ambiance have been captured with utmost respect and fineness. There is no restraint in artistic execution or in the elaborate presentation of details; there is no holding back of opulence, just as a place with regal history ought to be. Yet, what caught our eye and elevated our experience to another experience was the muted, often subtle relegation of the building blocks of the heritage hotel. There is a peculiar unassuming quality to it all, which will allow every visitor and guest to settle into the mood of the place and make a few corners their own. Every object, brick, color, and fragrance have been curated with particular attention and constantly reminds us of the legacy of the late king.
“The amalgamation of Italian marble with Bikaner red sandstone meshed with Jaiselmer stone and layered with Portuguese tiles is an eclectic way of capturing the travels of the King”.
— Siddharth Yadav