Exploring Shekhawati: Rajasthan’s open-air art gallery of frescoed havelis

“This haveli is at least a hundred years old, so are the frescos in your room,” the bellman tells me proudly as he opens the low-hung wooden door that requires you to bow to enter. After five hours on the road from Delhi, I am eager to rest before heading out to explore Churu, one of several towns where you can experience the faded grandeur of Shekhawati. Often described as the world’s largest open-air art gallery, this region in northern Rajasthan is known for its dense concentration of 18th–20th Century merchant havelis hand-painted with intricate frescoes.

What I do not yet realise is that my exploration has already begun, right here inside my room at Malji Ka Kamra, one of several havelis now restored as heritage hotels. It blends Italianate details with Rajput architecture, featuring Corinthian columns, arched balconies and stained glass. My cavernous room is overwhelming for eyes untrained to such scale and maximalism. Frescos cover every inch of wall and ceiling — some vivid, others fading and peeling like fragile relics. They depict portraits of former owners, floral motifs, scenes of daily life, angels with wings, and faraway places shaped by travel.