Samode, the Desert Gateway

Samode is situated in Rajasthan that is located about 42 kms from Jaipur city. It lies on the way to Shekhawati and is famous for its beautiful havelis and fort. It is the perfect place for holidays for tourists who appreciate culture and arts. This small village is famous for magnificent havelis, mansions and exquisite handicrafts. You may also enjoy day-to-day local rural life and flavors of Rajasthan. The prime attractions of Samode include Samode palace, Samode Fort, Temples, Havelis, Camel Safari, food, shopping, cultural events and villagers at work etc.

Samode Palace: This Palace belongs to the Rawals of the area who are regarded, as affluent noblemen but they do not belong to the royal family. The Rawals were bestowed the title of "Maha Rawal" by the royal family as reward for their loyalty and courage.

The Samode Palace is 400 years old palace that has gone through a lot of restoration work. There are several additions made to convert this historical grand palace in to a heritage hotel. The open courtyard in the center has separate wings on the sides that extend to 43 spacious rooms and suites having private balconies and views. The walls are in warm colors to highlight the intricate marble work, the antiques and the colorful art with traditional artifacts. The Durbar hall of Samode Palace is one of the most beautifully painted chambers with glass and minakari work. You may visit Sultan Mahal on the first floor of the palace that is a magnificent hall with beautiful marble pillared verandah. This hall is decorated with blue tile work decorated with painted vegetable dye patterns. It is furnished with intricately carved silver furniture imported from Nepal. You should also visit Hall of Mirrors that is decorated beautifully with fragments of mirror on the walls. The rooms are wonderful during the day but the exquisite mirror work at night is simply amazing.

Samode Fort: This fort is an old fortified residence of the Nathawat family that served as the Prime Ministers of the Jaipur Royal Court is located some 40 Kms from Jaipur and 264 km from Delhi in the Aravali range. Samode Fort is located on the hill above the Samode palace. The main entrance of the fort passes through the village; this journey can be thoroughly enjoyed by a camel safari from the highway where you can see villagers performing their daily chores. This popular fort is known for its historical significance and offers the great view of the town from the top. It also exhibits grandeur, class and elegance. There is Samode Bagh located 3 Kms from Samode consists a beautiful garden.

When to visit Samode?

Samode is very hot in summers. The temperature can rise up to 45°C but the winters are cool and the temperature can be as low as 5°C. The best time to take a tour to Samode is between October to March.

ART & CRAFTS IN RAJASTHAN

The Samode village consists many craft communities. The crafts of Rajasthan are well known all over. The main crafts of Rajasthan are as follows

Rugs and Carpets: There are floor coverings like carpets, hand-woven durries and soft woolen druggets of Rajasthan available in Samode. Rajasthani hand-knotted carpets have geometric motifs and formal designs with a border and central motif. The motifs are localized that include peacocks and other local icons. Jaipur and Bikaner are believed to be the pioneer centre in carpet weaving.

Pottery: The different regions of Rajasthan have distinctive style of pottery. Jaipur is famous for its blue glazed pottery that doesn't use simple clay but ground quartz stone, fuller's earth and sodium sulphate. Terra-cotta pottery is also very popular.

Metal Crafts: Jaipur, Alwar and Jodhpur are famous for their metal wares such as brassware, enameled, engraved and filigree cutwork on silver. The metal crafts of Rajasthan started off with embellishing the royal armor but now adorn tabletops, wall plates, flasks, silver animal figures, caparisoned elephants with human figures over a howdah (a musical instrument).

Paintings: Jaipur, Jodhpur, Nathdwara and Kishangarh are important centers of paintings. There are some of the well-known forms of Rajasthani paintings such as miniature paintings, portraits, courtly paintings, murals, paintings on cloth and furniture, henna body art, domestic paintings and mandana (the art of decorating houses) etc. Most of these paintings depict scenes from great Indian epics such as Ramayana, Krishna Lila and the Gita Govindam etc. These paintings are rich in colors that are prepared using minerals, vegetables, precious stones, conch shells and precious metals such as gold and silver. Other remarkable styles are phads or scrolls with the tales of the folk-hero Pabuji and the pichwais of Nathdwara near Udaipur that depict scenes from the life of Lord Krishna. These paintings are often decorated with precious stones.

Leather ware: Leather in Rajasthan is basically used to make jootis (the embroidered footwear), saddles, bags and pouches etc. Now a days animal skin are also used to make backs of chairs embroidered with woolen motifs and other useful objects. The leather is beaten, tanned and dyed to make patterns on it by punching and gouging, later it is studded and sequined for effect, after that it is embroidered and stitched to create the special jootis (slip-on shoes) that are in high demand. Jaipur and Jodhpur are famous for these 'jootis'.