When someone mentions “Naila” in Jaipur it usually means Naila school or night parties at Naila House, Club Naila.  Pool parties in Jaipur used to be associated with Club Naila. Where else can you find a party place in a heritage building? Naila House New Year Parties were popular among the party crowd in Jaipur; this is not the case, anymore. The city has more choices when it comes to party venues. There’s a history behind Naila House too but I will stick to Naila village in this write-up.

Everything You Want To Know About Naila Village

The Rajput family of Naila House is called Naila Thikana & has its origins in Naila Village. Technically, it was part of Jaipur state before India’s independence. Thikana-It was an estate assigned to a Rajput lineage. The family that is assigned an estate is called Thikanedaar in Rajasthan.

Where is Naila and what makes it special?

Naila village is located about 30 km from Jaipur. It first shot into the limelight when US President Bill Clinton visited Jaipur and this quaint village in the year 2000. Projected as a model village, the media highlighted Naila; now things are different.

This post is not a guide to Naila Village. It’s just a photo journey, a summary of my visit to Naila. You won’t find much of local life in the following pictures; just the surroundings and built heritage and architecture of Naila.

Surprisingly, the rampart which surrounds the village is still in good condition. Intended to protect the village from attacking armies as the first line of defense, the fortification runs all around the village, including the Naila fort perched on the hilltop.

Naila Fort History

Naila Fort was built to provide protection to the Naila village and the settlement around it. The Fort was built by Champawats after they moved to Jaipur in 1849 AD. They were part of the Rathore Rajput clan originally from Peelwa which was part of Jodhpur. In Jaipur court, Naila was an important and influential “Thikana”.  Thakur Fateh Singh Naila and Thakur Roop Singh Naila were influential and held important posts in the Jaipur court.

The Naila fort is now owned by Oberois; it was sold to the owner of the famous Indian hotel chain Oberoi by its original owners; it is referred to as The Oberoi Group. Though privately owned, the guests at the Oberoi Rajvilas Hotel in Jaipur can experience a visit to Naila Fort. I cannot verify this information as this was shared by the residents of the village. The hotel offers a sunset experience for its guests. Other than this, the fort is not accessible to the public since it is a private residence. The fort is built in an English-style castle.

Naila Palace

This is a picture of the palace in Naila village, constructed and once owned by the erstwhile rulers of the Naila estate. It conjures up two different sets of emotions.

I was excited about finding a lovely heritage building dating back to 1875 AD. The second one is a feeling of letdown looking at its condition. Advertisement on its facade is a bummer. The saddest part is the fact that now it is run by the government as a primary health center. It could have rather been a beautiful heritage hotel; it’s just waiting for things to fall apart.

I’m not sure how this beautiful property ended up with the government but the current state of the building is quite sad.

Naila estate was part of Jaipur. Jaipur merged with other smaller states to form a bigger state called Rajasthan.  The architecture is a unique amalgamation of European and Rajasthani styles which was prevalent post-1850 AD.

You end up thinking about the sad state; destruction & decay of heritage, architecture, and history is no one’s concern unless it generates revenue. The Araish work as shown in the above picture (white marble-like polished surface with black border) is impossible to reproduce today to the same level even though we know the processes because of expensive labor and lack of skilled workers;  we are simply allowing it to decay!!

Read Sunrise in Naila 

While the old Naila town has heritage houses and Havelis, new housing structures are coming up fast in the vicinity. As seen above, the vacant area next to the village gave way to residential quarters for the low-income groups.

You can look at the surrounding views of Naila village in the above picture. Probably these views are short-lived as plotting for dwelling units has already started.

Hawa Bungalow at Naila village is also referred to as Kanota Hawa Bungalow. It is well known among the party crowd in Jaipur. The owners of Hawa Bungalow also run a paintball facility and were the first to offer paintball in Jaipur. Of course, now even Tao Experiences also offer Paintball in Jaipur. Who offers the best paintball in Jaipur? I think the paintball in Naila village is the best paintball facility in Jaipur because of the terrain. More on Naila Village, Naila Fort, and Hawa Bungalow some other day. In Jaipur, when someone mentions the word “Naila” it generally means parties at Club Naila or the lounge elephant Naila Bagh.

Trekking in Naila

A few of my trips to Naila village were to trek in the hills around Naila. The hills in Naila were one of the toughest places to trek in Jaipur. The reason being the gradient was very steep and the surface comprised of gravel, the chances of skidding are very high. Also, the presence of brick manufacturing units in the vicinity meant very high air pollution. I still remember how unclear the air was with the presence of an industrial kind of smell. I have been informed about a commercial enterprise operating soft trekking in Naila, especially targeting children. If you want to trek and hike in Jaipur, check out my blog on trekking and hiking in Jaipur – The most popular hiking & trekking places in Jaipur.

You might want to check out this blog on sunrise in Naila during my first trek in Naila. Dawn Sky

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