Gulaabo

Pink is one of the defining colours of Rajasthan, and Gulaabo is a name given to both men and women in the region. This large cool room on the ground floor celebrates Jaipur’s pink theme and block-printing craft, reflected in both the soft furnishings and furniture (antique carved king bed and wardrobe, imaginatively designed coffee and and bedside tables). French windows overlook gardens and fields of wheat and maize on one side, while a balcony opens out into the pool-court on the other.

Small roses in a vibrant scarlet-pink carrying a distinctively strong fragrance are ubiquitous in roadside flower shops in this part of Rajasthan. Legend goes that Jehangir, son of Akbar the first Mughal emperor of India, ordered this variety of rose to be commercially cultivated in the region as the source of both perfume (ittar) for the elite, and flower offerings at the dargah (mausoleum) of the Sufi mystic Kwaja Moinuddin Chishti in the neighbouring city of Ajmer (revered by the Emperor Akbar as his spiritual mentor).

At Savista, the Gulaabo room celebrates Jaipur’s identity as Rajasthan’s “Pink City”, its block-printing craft, and its tradition of wood carving. We also hope that the roses in your room will waft you back, at least a little, to the Mughal past.

The room’s colour theme complements the haveli’s red sandstone-paved inner courtyard. Red sandstone has been quarried in the vicinity of Jaipur for centuries. The colour so fascinated the Mughals when they arrived here, that they built two of their most celebrated forts – the Agra Fort and the Delhi Red Fort – using this Jaipur resource. The mellow shade that the stone matures into with use inspired Jai Singh – the Kachchawa scientist-astronomer king of Jaipur– to decree that the whole walled city be painted in this hue. It was Jai Singh who moved the capital city of the Kachchawas from Amber to Jaipur, and the city derives its name from him, Jai-pur = the city of Jai. It may be considered India’s first planned city.

The Gulaabo room’s curtains are custom hand block printed in Sanganer and Bagru, the two celebrated block printing centres of Jaipur. The imaginatively-designed coffee table top is composed of discarded hand-carved wooden print-blocks. The embellished wooden bed and wardrobe are antique Rajasthani that have long been part of the haveli and have been restored . And the basket chairs (muddas) are made from reeds (mature kusha grass) that grow wild in and around Savista.

Regular plan