Tourism promotion in Shekhawati began with the organizing of first Shekhawati Festival, way back in 1995. Shekhawati region in Rajasthan comprising of three districts namely Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Churu is known as one of the largest Open Air Art Gallery in the world.
Frescoes on every wall of over 5,000 havelis, also offers a unique essence of the countryside, its people, food, dance, music and livelihood activities in agriculture, animal husbandry and cottage industries. The Morarka Foundation, in its efforts to introduce new economic opportunities, identified tourism promotion. With result, from 50 odd rooms in hotels, today there are about 250 rooms.
We made a small beginning, by organizing first Shekhawati Festival in 1996. This event enabled us to focus on many facets of Shekhawati culture that could become an experience sharing opportunity for visiting tourists.
The 11th Shekhawati Festival was organized during this year with great emphasis on farm and eco-tourism. The local traditional games such as Satolia, Rounder Balla, Hardara and Lunkyar continued to generate huge participation by rural youths. The folk art forms such as Mehandi, Mandana and Bandhej added colours to the festival.
This year an unique event "Organic Food Bazar" was also organized. About 40 farm families practicing organic management were invited to cook and serve their traditional food to the visiting tourists. This event attracted very-very large number of local residents as well.
The initiatives to document the cultural heritage of Shekhawati has been taken one step further. A major restoration and conservation effort is under progress at Morarka Haveli Museum. The leading expert Dr. Hot Chand is reviving the traditional techniques. The institute like facility has also been created at Morarka Haveli Museum to train young unemployed youths.
Some of the significant activities at the museum continued during the year are:
- Filling and filleting of plaster at the damaged portions.
- Cleaning of wall surfaces.
- Cleaning and treatment of wooden doors and windows.
- Cleaning and treatment of metal surfaces.
- Cleaning and chemical coating of preservative on painted surfaces.
- Consolidation, filling and filleting of flooring and roofing surfaces.
- Reintegration of paintings by traditional methods.
- Toilet facilities
In addition, this year a Guest Room along with toilet and all other necessary furniture and fixtures have also been developed. This Guest Room is now available to the visiting tourists for overnight stay.
The flow of tourists to the Haveli Museum has also increased significantly. The new Heritage Train on Meter Gauge has also included Morarka Haveli Museum in their itinerary.
All the tourists visiting Morarka Haveli Museum has now also started appreciating the conservation works, especially when they compare the conservation works being carried out by other Haveli owners.
The small efforts made to develop Farm Tourism have also started picking up. With Gangabari being first organized tourist destination, today there are at least 10 more similar kind of destinations on offer to the tourists. Here, the tourists mean outsiders interested in knowing, understanding and learning about Organic Agriculture in Shekhawati.
Shekhawati in Rajasthan, India
Shekhawati region in Rajasthan was given partial treatment by Mother Nature which is reflected in its semi-arid conditions. The Shekhawati culture responded to this challenge and compensated very beautifully in its rich tradition of folk arts, handicrafts and life styles. The cultural values also inculcated a deep sense of resilience and entrepreneurship in the sons of the soil reflected in top successful business houses of India originating from Shekhawati. This is evident in creation of magnificent havelis, philanthropic institutions and running of various altruistic activities by the segment of population for more than one century. It led to a rich heritage worth interest for serious tourism by outsiders.
Shekhawati is a region comprising of three districts in Rajasthan namely Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Churu. Situated North-West of Jaipur at a distance of 132 kms and South-West of Delhi at about 190 kms, it is now known as one of the largest OPEN AIR ART GALLERY in the world. Frescoes on every wall of over 5,000 havelis, also offers a unique essence of the countryside, its people, food, dance, music and livelihood activities in Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cottage Industries.
The potential avenues for tourism were identified in this area by Morarka Foundation and efforts were made to facilitate relevant infrastructure development and improvement of services besides awareness generation among the local population about significance of tourism for creating employment and in outside world as a priority tourist destination.
We made a small beginning, by organizing first Shekhawati Festival in 1996. This event enabled us to focus on many facets of Shekhawati culture that could become an experience sharing opportunity for visiting tourists.
In a short period of time international tourists arrival has gone up by at least 8-10 times. This is amply reflected in the creation of facilities. From just about 70 rooms in 1995, today in Shekhawati over 500 rooms are offered by at least 20 hotels and resorts spread over 13 towns.
A small initiative that began in 1996, has already mobilized the community. Today tourism in Shekhawati has already become a community affair and is being taken up by them as an emerging economic activity.
Now the time has come for professional organizations to come into Shekhawati to exploit new opportunities being generated for tourism related business activities.
Shekhawati Festival
Starting from 1996, this event has been organized in joint collaboration with Directorate of Tourism, Art & Culture and District Administration of Jhunjhunu, Sikar & Churu in February every year. The event offers a unique essence of Shekhawati for visiting tourists. During this festival some of the events that have found greater acceptance both by the local community as well as also by our guests are as follows:
- Local Traditional Games: Shekhawati largely being rural in character has long tradition of many indigenous games and sports. We identified SATOLIA, ROUNDAR BALLA, HARDARA & LUNKYAR so that competitions could be organized to revive and promote them. These traditional games when played by tourists will create great opportunities for fun and adventure amongst them.
- Folk Art Forms: Women in villages have always been the repository of art forms in rural India, Shekhawati is no exception. MEHANDI, MANDANA and BANDHEJ competitions have been included in the list of events organized every year during this festival. On one hand, these competitions have added colour to the festival, while many prize winners have found new and better income generating opportunities.
Farm and Eco Tourism
With initial experiences in tourism promotion activities, we realized that a large majority of visiting tourists stays only for short durations in Shekhawati. This limits the larger involvement of communities in tourism related activities.
To overcome this constraint, we explored the option of promoting farm tourism. Long back, Mr. S.K. Misra, Former Secretary of Tourism and Civil Aviation had said “farm tourism is an area where facilities can be given for tourism. It would add to the farmer's income and provide a chance for urban families to understand agricultural practices."
This led to a new concept, in which visit to villages are being organized giving tourists a real flavour and a closer look of country life. Subsequently, some overnight stays at farms both in tented accommodations as well as in traditional mud houses have also been added.
A beginning has been made but it would be quite long for farmers to become professional hosts, earning revenues.
To support these efforts, we have now signed a contract with a professional agency in Jaipur. They are offering:
- Complete guidance in the selection of farm units willing to set up facilities for tourists.
- Complete support in the development, operations and running of facilities.
- Marketing and leadings for tourists.
- Logistics support to the tourists.
Documentation, Preservation and Promotion of
Cultural Heritage in Shekhawati
In collaboration with KALAKRITI (Architectural Firm) and AYAM (Ethnic Art Promotion Group) from the year 1997 to 2000 i.e. for three consecutive years, Haveli Competitions have been held to promote awareness about this heritage.
Also the research work for documentation awarded by Ministry of Art & Culture, Government of India, to develop complete restoration and conservation package for Shekhawati Haveli's has been completed. The report was released during Shekhawati Festival 2000 by Dr. Chandra Bhan, Hon'able Minister for Energy, Government of Rajasthan.
This enabled many Haveli owners to plan for the restoration and conservation of their Haveli's in Shekhawati.
A leading restoration and conservation expert, Dr. Hot Chand, who has been involved in reviving traditional techniques, has come forward to set up an institute to train young unemployed youths.
This has helped to overcome the problems of non-availability of trained manpower in this area.
For more details kindly visit
www.shekhawatifestival.com
