Rebuilding The Ramparts

It was about 6.30 PM, the sun had just set, and the endless Rajasthani sky stretched out in front of me, streaked with red and orange, slowly deepening into velvety navy. I was on the Spa Terrace of Six Senses Fort Barwara, where the sundowner celebrating the hotel’s fifth anniversary was winding down. The Maharani Mahansar Somras liqueur was strong, and I felt an autumnal mellowness seep into me as the lights of Chauth Ka Barwara came to life.

Behind me, the 14th-century fort built by Bhim Singh Chauhan settled into its golden-hour glow. The hushed uplighting mimicked the diyas that once guided its residents, casting deep shadows across the rugged texture of 700-year-old walls.

Local oral tradition says that around 1451 CE the goddess Chauth Mata appeared in a dream to Bhim Singh Chauhan and asked to be worshipped at Barwara. He obeyed, and her temple rose on the hill overlooking the town. A second legend, from the 16th century, says Rao Surjan Hada’s wife sought the goddess’s blessings, after which he recovered from an illness and repaired the temple. In 1734 CE, the Rajawat dynasty took the fort from the Hadas.

That morning, I had been showered with rose petals while Sanskrit shlokas were chanted for my well-being. I felt like a Rajput chieftain returning from war, though all I had done was endure a seamless drive from Noida on the new Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. I was escorted to the check-in lobby in the Mardana Mahal, the “male” palace, with its arched ceilings and thick walls. In the adjacent Rajawat Room, a lounge and bar, old photographs showed the fort in extreme dilapidation. No wonder the restoration, begun in 2011 by architects, Nimish Patel and Parul Zaveri of Abhikram, took a decade. Their guiding principle was to preserve the original wherever possible, designing with the past rather than over it. “The objective was not to recreate an imagined version of the fort, but to retain its authentic character while giving it a viable new purpose,” Zaveri said to Outlook Traveller.

Stories in Stone

“The Mardana Mahal was constructed first for the chief of the army (senapati) when the fort was used as the last frontier of the Jaipur state. Hence, we see it built with 5-ft-thick walls,” Zaveri said. The Zenana Mahal, the women’s palace, came much later. Its frescoes, lime-plastered surfaces and niches demanded more sensitivity, and its adaptation into the Six Senses Spa was “a natural fit for the building’s intimate character and historic emphasis on privacy.”

The walls threw up surprises. Beneath the Mardana Mahal’s unusually high plinth lay “a substantial enclosed space,” a forgotten storage area now a banquet venue for around 200 guests. Hooks and rings that seemed pointless turned out to mark where windows once stood. Two temples link the fort’s royal past to its wellness present. The Radha Krishna Temple, tucked inside the Zenana Mahal, remains a place of worship, and the spa has a shrine to Dhanvantari, the deity of Ayurveda. I wandered over to the temple in time for the evening aarti. The courtyard was dark, but the temple was aglow, as the village priest chanted mantras just as his forefathers must have once done.

Old walls, modern comfort

My Fort Suite, one of 48, leaned heavily on Rajasthani aesthetics: jharokhas, jaali partitions, arches. An enclosed verandah overlooked Chauth ka Barwara. Making a 14th-century fort comfortable meant letting the building lead. “We studied the building fabric and its spatial possibilities before determining where modern services could be accommodated,” Zaveri said. The architects punctured the walls with seats and jharokhas, creating a court for each suite that preserved the fort wall while framing views of the forest, the lake and the town.

Later, General Manager Burkhard Wolter told me authenticity is key to running a hotel in a 705-year-old fort. “The fort is not simply a backdrop to the guest experience; it is an integral part of it,” he said. Maintaining it is no easy task: “Seasonal changes, the demands of maintaining historic stone and lime structures, and the need to manage water and energy responsibly all require a considered approach.”

Many memorable experiences later, like a spa session in the Zenana Mahal, meals at the all-day restaurant The Cortile, and wine-tasting in a hidden, subterranean cellar, the best was kept for last: dinner at Tibari, set up under the night sky on the ramparts of the fort, against the backdrop of the Aravalli hills and the festive lights of the Chauth Mata temple. With some fine rosé, a traditional Rajasthani thali and a folk song drifting through the arches, time seemed to stand still. My immersion into the fort’s history was complete.

The Information

• Address: Six Senses Fort Barwara, Chauth Ka Barwara, Rajasthan 322702

• Keys: 48 suites

• Connectivity: A 2.5-hour drive from Jaipur and a 30-minute drive from Ranthambore National Park

• Website: www.sixsenses.com/en/hotels-resorts/asia-the-pacific/india/fort-barwara