The havelis of Rajasthan, forgotten by time, may finally get their due
The havelis of Rajasthan, forgotten by time, may finally get their due
Shekhawati’s painted architecture takes a step towards global recognition with its addition to UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites
Kesariya balam, aavo ni, padharo mhare des…
Come, beloved traveller, come to my land.
Few lines capture Rajasthan quite like this old invitation. For generations, it has welcomed travellers to a land of colour, memory, and hospitality. Today, as the painted haveli towns of Shekhawati find a place on UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites, that invitation seems to carry a new resonance. The world is being asked to look again — and look more closely — at a remarkable inheritance that has been hiding in plain sight.
Some places remain with you long after you have physically left them. For me, Shekhawati is not just a region on the map of Rajasthan. It is a landscape of belonging and identity.
I was born in Churu, in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, and therefore the news that the painted haveli towns of Shekhawati have been added to UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites carries a deeply personal significance. It is a moment of pride, not merely because a part of Rajasthan has received international attention, but because a forgotten chapter of India’s cultural history is finally being acknowledged.
“The inclusion of Shekhawati’s historic havelis in UNESCO the Tentative List strengthens our efforts to preserve this extraordinary heritage and present it to the world, while also creating new opportunities for heritage tourism and local communities,” said Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari.
For generations, the magnificent havelis of Shekhawati have stood quietly amidst the desert landscape — their walls narrating stories of enterprise, migration, art, ambition, and human imagination. They have witnessed centuries change around them. They have seen merchants leave for distant cities, businesses grow in other cities, new technologies arrive, and entire ways of life transform. Yet, through all these changes, the walls remained. The paintings remained. The memories remained.
The inclusion of Shekhawati’s painted haveli towns on UNESCO’s Tentative List is not the culmination of a journey, but an important renewal. It places this extraordinary heritage landscape on a global platform and begins a process through which it can potentially move towards becoming a World Heritage Site.
An open-air art gallery created by merchants
Shekhawati has often been described as an open-air art gallery, and rightly so.
Spread across parts of Churu, Jhunjhunu, and Sikar districts, the region contains some of India’s most remarkable examples of merchant architecture. The UNESCO proposal identifies a serial nomination covering 14 historic towns, including Churu, Mandawa, Nawalgarh, Fatehpur, Ramgarh, Jhunjhunu, among others. Together, these towns represent a unique combination of architecture, urban planning, fresco traditions, and mercantile history.
What makes Shekhawati extraordinary is not just individual havelis. It is the larger cultural ecosystem they represent.
Between the 18th and early 20th centuries, the region became prosperous because of its position along important trade routes. The rise of Marwari merchant communities transformed these towns. Successful businessmen who had established themselves across India and beyond returned to their hometowns and invested their wealth in creating grand residences, temples, wells, chhatris, and public structures. These were not merely houses. They were statements of identity.
The frescoes painted on their walls captured an entire world — mythology, religious stories, everyday life, royal processions, animals, flora, technological change, and even the arrival of the modern age. Trains, cars, British officials, and scientific innovations found their way into these paintings alongside traditional themes.
In many ways, these walls became the newspapers of their time. They documented what people saw, what they valued and how they understood a rapidly changing world.
The story of Churu and the Shekhawati spirit
Whenever I think of Shekhawati, I think beyond architecture. I think of people.
I think of the warmth of its communities, the resilience required to live in a semi-arid landscape, and the entrepreneurial spirit that took people from small towns of Rajasthan to become some of India’s most influential business families.
Many of India’s leading industrial and business houses trace their roots to this region. The entrepreneurial DNA of Shekhawati is a remarkable part of India’s economic story.
The same communities that built businesses across the country also built extraordinary spaces back home. They created structures that combined practicality with imagination — homes designed around courtyards, adapted to the climate, decorated with intricate paintings and integrated into the social fabric of the town.
But Shekhawati’s legacy has never been confined to commerce alone. This is also a land of extraordinary artistic and cultural contributions — a region where creativity found expression through music, dance, literature and performance.
Churu and the wider Shekhawati region have a remarkable association with the world of arts and music. The legendary composer Khemchand Prakash, whose melodies shaped the golden era of Hindi cinema, belonged to this region. The internationally acclaimed ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan, renowned for giving the genre a timeless global appeal, also had deep roots here. The region has further contributed to India’s creative landscape through artists such as Dilip Sen and Sameer Sen, celebrated composers who have shaped popular music, and Kathak exponent Girdhari Maharaj, who carried forward India’s classical dance traditions.
The cultural thread continues into the present day. Grammy Award-winning composer Ricky Kej, whose work has brought Indian sounds to a global audience, traces his family roots to Churu. Spiritual storyteller and devotional singer Jaya Kishori, born in Sujangarh in Churu district, represents another contemporary voice emerging from this cultural landscape.
This artistic inheritance is an essential part of Shekhawati’s identity. Its havelis were not merely symbols of wealth and enterprise; they were canvases of imagination. Their frescoes captured mythology, music, everyday life, changing technology and the aspirations of a society constantly evolving. The walls of Shekhawati did not just record the rise of merchants — they preserved the creative spirit of an entire region.
Growing up with a connection to Churu means understanding that heritage is not something locked away in museums. It exists in neighbourhoods, streets, and homes. It lives in conversations, festivals, food traditions, and family histories.
That is why this recognition feels special. It is a reminder that the places we sometimes take for granted can hold significance far beyond their immediate surroundings.
What does being on UNESCO’s Tentative List mean?
There is often confusion about what it means when a site is placed on UNESCO’s Tentative List.
It does not mean that a site has already become a World Heritage Site. Rather, the Tentative List is an inventory of places that a country considers to have potential Outstanding Universal Value and may wish to nominate for UNESCO’s World Heritage List in the future. A site must first be included on this list before its nomination can be formally considered.
The next stages involve detailed documentation, conservation planning, stakeholder participation, and evaluation. Countries prepare nomination dossiers explaining why a site deserves global recognition, including aspects such as authenticity, integrity, conservation measures, and comparisons with similar heritage properties. The nomination is then examined through UNESCO’s established process before any final decision on inscription.
For Shekhawati, this means there is important work ahead. Recognition must be accompanied by preservation. The challenge is not only celebrating these havelis but ensuring they survive for future generations.
Many historic structures across the region require sensitive conservation. Traditional craftsmanship, restoration expertise and local participation will be critical. Heritage cannot survive only through nostalgia. It requires active care.
A responsibility beyond recognition
The world is full of places that have beautiful buildings. What makes Shekhawati special is that its buildings tell a human story.
They tell the story of ambition emerging from a difficult landscape. They tell the story of communities that travelled far but remained connected to their roots. They tell the story of how wealth, when combined with imagination, can create something that outlives generations.
For someone born in Churu, this moment brings immense pride. But pride must come with responsibility.
The UNESCO recognition process offers an opportunity not only to preserve walls and paintings but to revive conversations around local artisans, traditional knowledge, tourism models, and community participation.
The greatest danger for heritage is not always destruction. Sometimes, it is forgetting.
For too long, the havelis of Shekhawati stood quietly, admired by those who visited them but insufficiently recognised in the larger national conversation. This moment changes that.
The world is now looking towards Shekhawati. And perhaps, after centuries of telling everyone else’s stories on their walls, these havelis are finally getting a chance to tell their own story to the world.
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