Patwon ki Haveli

Patwon ki Haveli stands in a narrow lane in the old town of Jaisalmer in western Rajasthan, a short walk north of the fort. It is not a single building but a cluster of five havelis, or townhouses, built side by side for the Patwa family, a wealthy merchant family who traded in brocade and silver thread and later in other goods across the region.

Guman Chand Patwa began the first and largest house in 1805. The other four were added for his five sons over roughly the next fifty to sixty years, which is why the details change slightly from one facade to the next. The name means the haveli of the Patwas, a word linked to the family trade of weaving gold and silver thread.

All five houses are built of the local golden yellow sandstone that gives Jaisalmer its colour. The facades are covered with carved jharokhas, or projecting balconies, arched windows, brackets and pierced stone screens that let in light and air while keeping the rooms private. Inside, the rooms are arranged around courtyards, and some still show painted walls, mirror work and original ceilings.

Two of the houses are run as museums. Kothari's Patwa Haveli Museum displays furniture, utensils, clothing and household items arranged to show how a rich trading family lived in the nineteenth century, and visitors can climb to the roof for views over the town and the fort. Another part of the complex is maintained by the state, while the remaining sections are privately owned, with craft shops on the ground floor.

The lane can be visited at any time, while the museum sections charge a separate ticket and keep daytime hours. Morning light is best for photographing the carvings.

Rooms furnished as a 19th-century merchant home

Inside the museum the rooms are furnished as a merchant household of the nineteenth century would have used them: a reception room with cushions on the floor, a kitchen with brass vessels, and bedrooms with painted wooden chests. Look up at the ceilings, some of which keep their original paint and mirror inlay, and at the small jharokha windows from the women's quarters, which let the family watch the street without being seen.

The lane outside is narrow and busy with shops selling textiles, puppets and silver, and cows and motorbikes share the way, so mornings are calmer. Jaisalmer Fort, Salim Singh ki Haveli and Nathmal ki Haveli are all within a ten-minute walk, and many visitors see the three havelis in one go.