Architecture Of A Royal Camp: The Retrived Fort Of Nagaur Hardcover

This book is an publication on Indian architecture. It is an important source for international & domestic travelers to develop the city of Nagpur into cultural and tourism destinations. It uncovers the history of Jodhpur,Shekhwati, Bikaner.

The book puts together the authors’ wide-ranging experiences of a 20-year, highly ambitious project: the conservation of the awe-inspiring Nagaur Fort: from its very beginning to its completion. Acknowledged worldwide, this complex, exceedingly demanding project also received the UNESCO Award for Excellence for Conservation of Cultural Heritage in 2002 – a first for any project in India. The Fort’s Conservation was funded, among others, by the Getty Foundation, Los Angeles, and the Helen Hamlyn Trust, London. Located in the Marwar region of Rajasthan, the Ahhichatragarh Fort in the Nagaur city unmistakably exemplifies a marvel of Indian architecture and cultural heritage. Dating far back to the 4th century AD, the fort had long been at the centre of Muslim invasions from Central Asia. Accordingly, over the centuries, it had been under the control of diverse ruling families. Its magnificent presence apart, the fort’s extensive, highly imposing protective walls, with a periphery of 1539 meters, present a unique spatial experience. This 2-tiered, and at places 3-tiered fortification with thirty bastions, was once surrounded on all sides by a deep moat which, over the time, has been lost to encroachments, in most parts of the wall. The width of the wall at its base is in excess of 6 meters. Within the massive protective walls of the historic Nagaur Fort are seen an ancient complex of richly painted palaces, mosques, temples, intricate baoris (reservoirs), fountains, open terraces and pleasure gardens, dating back to the Mughal times. Elegant paintings that adorn many of the walls and ceilings of the palaces portray life there in the 1700s. Lavishly illustrated, the book describes the remarkable conservation of the splendid Nagaur Fort focusing, notably, on its articulative fort wall, its palace complex, its Ranvas havelis: the gem-like palaces for the Nagaur queens, and its sophisticated water systems. With the meticulous restoration of palaces, havelis, and other structures, a visitor today can experience living within the artistic eighteenth century environs of the Nagaur Fort. Kulbhushan Jain: an eminent architect, is Emeritus Professor at CEPT University, Ahmedabad — where Minakshi Jain, also a practicing architect, has been a visiting professor.