Places 38 Lay of the
Places 38 Lay of the Land FOCUS ON DESIGN The capital city of Jaipur, with its narrow lanes, each dedicated to an artisanal craft, is the perfect place from which to start a design tour, and nowhere beats Villa Palladio (villa-palladio-jaipur.com). Envisioned by Dutch designer Marie-Anne Oudejans, the nine-key hotel is an eye-popping vision in Indian vermilion, showcasing contemporary interpretations of many a local craft. For a more diverse lens on Jaipur, add the city’s niche museums to your itinerary. Pioneering textile label Anokhi’s Museum of Hand Printing (anokhimuseum.com) chronicles Rajasthan’s many textile arts, while jewellery maison Amrapali’s museum (amrapalimuseum.com) documents ornamentation, especially tribal, in minute detail. And the Paul Mathieu-designed private museum of haute jeweller Gyan Jaipur (gyanmuseum.com) is a repository of nearly 3,000 years of Indian culture, including rare Jain scriptures, figurines from ancient India and jewellery pieces acquired from the Al Thani Collection. For real-world takeaways, head to stores such as Anantaya (anantayadecor.in). Conceived by Ayush Kasliwal, one of India’s foremost design minds, it offers a smorgasbord of craft-based items made for modern living – coasters, lamps, organisers, napkins, storage, stationery and furniture. Then there’s Jaipur Modern (jaipurmodern.com), which, while still firmly rooted in the city’s craft legacy, offers a curated collection of design objects from across India. Nila House (nilajaipur.com), a non-profit created by the Lady Bamford Foundation, works at the intersection of preservation, modernisation and sustainability of Indian crafts. The store, part of a space revived by celebrated architect Bijoy Jain, stocks a range of clothing and furnishings that result from their activities. After a few days exploring the city, make the scenic, three-and-a-half-hour trip out to Suján Sher Bagh (thesujanlife.com), a Relais & Châteaux property near Ranthambore National Park. The intimate 12- key retreat is situated in a part of a tiger habitat that the owners, Anjali and Jaisal Singh, have helped rewild. The aesthetics of the camp are a study in überluxe design: crisp cotton canvas tents, campaign-style furniture, plush leather seats, furnishing embroidered with the big cat, photographs taken on memorable safaris into the park – together they add up to a sustained sense of old-world charm, which a recent renovation has somehow managed to enhance. Another delightful option for bedding down is the RAAS Jodhpur (raashotels.com). Built around a Marwari nobleman’s 18th-century abode, the architecture of the property, through the materials used and mechanics mimicked, effortlessly combines the old and the new. While most rooms and suites reveal stellar views of Mehrangarh Fort, the room to book is the tastefully appointed Stepwell suite. It offers vistas not just of the fort but also of a stepwell that dates back to 1740, which RAAS has revived for the community’s use. SAFARI SOJOURNS When it comes to game-spotting, tigers and leopards are Rajasthan’s two-big ticket attractions. To see the former, head to Ranthambore, with its lakes and wooded zones, abandoned palaces and functioning temples that make it perhaps India’s most charismatic PHOTO © SUJÁN JAWAI The spectacularly secluded Royal Panthera suite at Suján Jawai, with its own swimming pool CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
