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Places To Visit Near Jaipur

Naila-A village tucked away in time | Walkthrough

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.

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Approaching Naila Village, near Jaipur
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The beautiful gate of Naila was ruined by billboards and advertisements.

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.

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Naila Fort on the hilltop
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A thin curvy road with a steep incline leads to Naila Fort. It’s a private property owned by the hotelier Oberoi group
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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.

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The beautiful Palace in Naila village is now owned and managed by the government and is run as a primary health center and also a training place for aspiring doctors and medicos.

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.

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Neglect and lack of attention are evident everywhere in this palace at Naila village

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.fatehgarh-palace-in-naila-indo-european-architecture-style-building-jaipurthrumylens  The architecture is a unique amalgamation of European and Rajasthani styles which was prevalent post-1850 AD.

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Notice the beautiful fusion of Rajasthani and European styles. Naila Village
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The wild creeper adds to the dated look of this heritage palace. Naila village
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servant quarters…. probably. Naila village
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Beautiful stone carvings were influenced by the Mughals and Araish work in  Gokhaas. Naila village

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 

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New low-cost housing structures are being constructed just outside Naila village.

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.

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Bhomia Ji temple on the hilltop. Naila village

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.

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Hawa Bungalow, Naila village
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Kanota Hawa Bungalow. Naila Village

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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204 thoughts on “Naila-A village tucked away in time | Walkthrough”

  5. This isn’t such a well known spot I guess. At least it doesn’t look littered and there is no that kind of contribution from people. But it is really sad that such structures are not preserved! Those carvings and the entire vicinity is so beautiful! And yeah I feel so sorry about the units coming up. Soon, this serenity will be lost. Shops will crop up, development will begin and before you know, it will be declared a polluted city.
    Anyhow, thanks for these pictures 🙂 I loved Naila.

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      2. That’s great Anish! This blog specifically talks only about Jaipur and surroundings. I have been to Jaiselmer last year so can help you but post is yet to be scribbled on my other blog. 🙂

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  7. Pingback: 5 Popular Post on Jaipurthrumylens in 2016 – Jaipur thru my lens !!

    1. There are many more such hidden gems around Jaipur. A word of caution though, this place is recommended only for architecture and heritage lover. It’s devoid of the tourist facilities. Let me know if you need any further information. 🙂

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  13. Wow! What a beautiful quaint town, Arv. I liked the architectural fusion. It is so sad that the palace is in such disrepair- such rich heritage in such buildings!
    Thank you for sharing the pictures. I got a chance to see some of Naila, thanks to you.

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  16. At the outset Arv, I must admire the flow of thoughts and finer details that you have captured through this beautiful post. I can see it, you have really put lot of efforts and also the planning that is needed while taking the series of photos and putting the right set of words for each such picture. Never easy to balance the picture with the words, we invariably get lost in the wilderness of such historical place and the nostalgia it brings within us when we reflect on our past and richness it had and how we have ruined the heritage.

    Agree, these gets the limelight only when celebrities or world personalities make there presence and I think this is where they should spend sometime and by doing so, they can give such neglected heritage sites it’s due. The problem with our country is that we are gifted in abundance whether the natural resources to historical richness but we are equally good at fettering away such possession. The irony. Perhaps, it is all in our mindset or perhaps we are so much dragged by our life’s daily problem we forget to think beyond the routines and get trapped in parochial thoughts.

    Just by going through the narration you have done for a small village Naila, otherwise little know to common public, you have managed to capture the greater imagination of us, how a small place with rich history can find a place in our heart, and how life in such places was year’s ago and how the people lived and built their dwellings. Just not the use of words to describe such place, the beautiful pictures and the different facets of the terrain and the surrounding in the picture takes us deep inside the history and we are forced to reflect and realize the world beyond our place of habitat, so much to see and so much to experience in any place whether known or unknown, small or big…life beyond our frames.

    Indeed, I am really enjoying your lovely journeys through your beautiful narration.

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    1. You are right, we are blessed with so much culture and heritage. Unfortunately, we also have a colonial mindset where we think everything new and originating from the west, is future and to be sought for. We don’t realize the worth of our built heritage. If we are able to maintain and monetize from these assets, it will work to benefit everyone. Even tourists are unhappy with such sad state of maintenance.
      Subsequent to Naila, I also made few more visits last year in nearby villages and town with rich history and built heritage. I’m yet to post about it.
      Thanks to such a meaningful interaction Nihar, happy to know we have a similar way of thinking on this issue. 🙂

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      1. Such a paradox, with such richness of heritage we all carry poor mindset, we have everything, in fact we have more than many other countries…we are a blessed country but we also a little confused on to deal and handle such vast repository of culture and heritage.
        Just by focusing on tourism we can become the world’s largest destination of topursim industry, but you go to any such heriatge site or natural beauty, the surrounding and approach roads are in such shambles and the way we maintain it makes us feel bad, forget about the tourist who feel less welcomed with such apathy.
        Indeed there are such beautiful locations in these small hamlets spread across the length and breath of country, it amazes us when we sit back and reflect.
        Good to have such lovely conversation on such neglected and nice little places and people around us.

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    1. If you love exploring offbeat places, do visit…
      I normally don’t recommend this place to everyone since it’s not a tourist oriented place. You gotta explore it on your own! Strictly for explorers and people who love heritage and history!
      Have you visited Bhangarh Fort?

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