from a sleepy town till the 1970s to a destination for discerning travellers mandawa owes it in full measure to the family of its former rulers randhir vikram singh whose grandfather was jagir father an mla and mp isolates a few incidents that opened up a new horizon not only for mandawa but for the country as wellmandawa is a key constituent of shekhawati that flaunts the roots of birlas goenkas piramals dalmias and singhanias among others in 18th and 19th century the wealthy traders not only built big mansions but also vaunted a measure of their wealth and affluent lifestyle by commissioning frescoes painting on walls pillars ceilings and window sills of the havelisthe outside world was not aware of the artistic brilliance of the frescoes in the 1970s aman nath and francis wacziarg embarked on a research project on these paintings in shekhawati mandawa was at the centre of their research thats when i met them and developed an acquaintance says randhirby then randhir had started an apparel and fabric export business inspired by her mothers pioneering work on textilesafter mayo college i graduated from baroda university with specialization in painting my mother under the guidance of the famous artist kripal singh shekhawat who introduced colours into blue pottery started reviving vegetable colours in textile printing but my export business ran into rough weather when the quota system was introduced recalls randhirin 1977 dominique lapierre along with a group was in india and had planned a march to promote his book freedom at midnight the word has reached him about mandawas walls of art from a planned quick stopover at castle mandawa enroute his march it turned out to be a spectacle of cultural extravaganza the welcoming procession geendar dance a holi speciality had caught their fancy recalls randhirenchanted by what they experienced the visitors wrote profusely about mandawa its painted walls and the colourful cultural traditions that helped mandawa find a mention in international travel circuits randhir says after a couple of years mandawa as a destination made its way into western travel brochureswhen we received the first group in 1980 we devoted about six rooms of the castle mandawa with certain facilities arranged on a makeshift but as regular groups started arriving we created permanent facilities he sayseven though randhirs family had shifted to jaipur in 1952 because of his fathers engagements as a politician his grandfather stayed at the castle which was built by his ancestors in 1755 when i suggested to my grandfather to set up a company for the property he was happy not because it would be a new business but because it will bring us back to mandawa we started the company with zero paidup capital says randhirwhile the family used more rooms of the castle and upgraded the property to accommodate a larger number of visitors the concept of heritage hotel was yet to be recognized his father devi singh was an mp when arun nehru was the union tourism