The romantic Jhira Bagh Palace hotel combines rustic chic with understated luxury.
The palce hotel exudes a kind of rustic chic brightened with furnishings of local Bagh prints, a few piece of original period furniture, replicas of Indian miniature paintings and photographs of richly garbed royalty adorning the walls everywhere. This is not a don’t touch the heirlooms kind of place, though at one time it was the ultimate in luxury where satin whispered to velvet and curtains fell in rich puddles on the marbled floor. Today, an air of informal luxury without a hint of ostentation, clings to the palace. There is no reception nor cashier’s desk nor were there keys for our room.
In fact Jhira Bagh seems to exist in a time warp. Which is perhaps why foreign guests who visit Mandu, book a two-night stay at the palace and end up staying for 10 days, said Verma. A group of Italian tourists keeps coming back and has stayed at the palace on six different occasions. "The type of guests who come here are interested in heritage, art, architecture, etc," said Verma. They are often wrung out and exhausted on arrival, after a bumpy road journey. "Yet they will smile and say, 'You know how roads are in India. This place is worth the price."' And of course there are the honeymooners, walking cliches who convey in no uncertain terms that they are love-at-first-sight-couples!
In the palace with its powerful aura of romance one feels the pulse of historic Dhar, whose maharajas were entitled to a permanent salute of 15 guns during the British Raj. What's more, the staff has been hired locally, we were told, and made up in smiling, courteous hospitality what they may have lacked in professionalism. The wait staff served us with impeccable timing and made us feel very cosseted. We were served five course meals made from ingredients and vegetables grown in the palace garden and gourmet dishes concocted from creamy paneer made from milk obtained from the palace's dairy.
The eco-friendly fervor of the place became immediately apparent when we met the suave owner of the palace, Deepak Suryavanshi who bought the property from Her Highness Dr Mrinalini Devi Puar (wife of the late Maharaja Anand Rao Puar) in 1993. A gobar gas plant feeds gas to the kitchen; heating is provided by solar power panels, etc. The palace has its own wheat, gram and soya bean, and vegetable fields. Nor is Jhira Bagh a facility-frenzied resort. There is no swimming pool nor are there any TVs in the rooms, so that one just plugs into the peace of the environs. (A health club was to be set up in the former butler's wing.)
