Bagore ki Haveli Dance Show

Bagore ki Haveli, Udaipur is an 18th-century royal architecture built by the then president of Mewar Mr.Amar Chand Badwa, the construction of this haveli lasted throughout the rule of the four Maharanas. It is situated on the waterfront of Pichola known as ‘Gangaur Ghat’ in the old city, Udaipur.’Bagore’ is a place in Rajasthan and ‘Haveli’ means ‘Mansion’ so the reason behind this name lies in the fact that the mansion became the home of Maharana Shakti Singh of Bagore so the name ‘Bagore Ki Haveli’ got popular among the locals. The palace was the private property of the royal family of Mewar, after independence Government of India used the building as the housing of the government employees but due to improper maintenance the property was assigned to the west zone culture center in 1986 which converted the property into the heritage museum keeping intact the look of the ‘haveli’.

History of Bagore Ki Haveli
Shri Amarchand Badwa, who served as the Prime minister of Mewar kingdom during the reign of Maharanas Pratap Singh II, Raj Singh II, Ari Singh, and Hamir Singh from the period of 1751 to 1778, built Bagore Ki Haveli. Following the death of Amarchand Badwa, the haveli came under the possession of Mewar royal family and became the abode of Nath Singh, a relative of the then Maharana.

In 1878, Maharaj Shakti Singh of Bagore further extended the haveli by building the triple-arched gateway and since then it is known as Bagore ki Haveli. Till 1947, the haveli remained in the possession of Mewar state. Post India’s Independence, the Haveli was used by the Rajasthan government for housing government employees. The haveli was neglected for almost forty years and later in 1986, the Government eventually decided to handover the restoration work to the West Zone Cultural Centre.

Restoration of Bagore ki Haveli
The West Zone Cultural Centre converted the haveli into a museum, while retaining the royal look in the same old architectural style. To maintain its old charm, several royal family members were consulted and the Haveli was restored using local and traditional skills.
The materials used for the restoration of Bagore ki Haveli included the traditional materials like lakhori bricks and lime mortar. The existing murals were preserved and the doors, windows and perforated screens were repaired and the extremely damaged ones were replaced.

Things to see in Bagore Ki Haveli Museum
The mansion consists of over 100 rooms, multiple corridors, balconies, jharokhas, and terraces. The royal queen’s chamber attracts everyone attraction with the splendid piece of art being showcased in the form of fine glass work. There are two beautiful glass peacocks in the chamber giving the testimony of the craftsmanship of that era. You will get introduced to the royal lifestyle in the form of bathrooms, dressing rooms, jewelry boxes, hukkas, pan boxes, rose water sprinkler and various other artifacts. The museum also has a great collection of puppets and turbans.

Dharohar Dance show
The Dharohar dance show is the main attraction of Bagore ki Haveli. The show takes place in the evening from 7 pm to 8 pm and showcases vibrant cultural dance and art forms of Rajasthan. It’s a must-attend show, you need to line up in the queue to get the tickets and grab you comfort seat first, the charges for the show is INR 90 for Indians and INR 140 for Non-Indians. The charges for carrying the camera is INR 150. We tried skipping the camera ticket in hope of some luck but you have to buy it as the ticket is in the form of a ‘wrist tag’ which you must wear while clicking or filming.

The ambiance is a perfect one for a cultural show like this, the lit up gokhdas(palace styled window) and balconies in different light make a vibrant background for the show. The structure is stone textured which gives it a rich heritage look. The musicians with tabla, harmonium, and Dholak occupies the right corner of the stage. The show starts with a ‘vedic manta’ followed by the extremely popular welcome song ‘Padharo Mhare Des’ which means ‘you are welcome to my land’, after that an anchor dressed in Rajasthani attire takes over the mic and explains about the different forms of Rajasthani dance prior each performance. She gives both English and Hindi explanations. The show started off with the ‘Chari’ dance, as the name suggests Chari means a small metal vessel, this dance is done by women of North Rajasthan with a ‘Brass Chari’ containing the fire on their head, the dance poses resemble the ‘Yogasana’.

Next was a sparkling dance of Rajasthan ‘Gorbandh’, the dance portrays the joyous women celebrating after preparing a ‘Gorbandh'(a decorative piece to decorate the camel) for their camel. There is a tradition of decorating animals on Khekhra(the day next to Diwali). The dancers in the dance were colorfully dressed in sparkling jewelry and bangles. There was also a mini puppet camel dancing in the background which further enhanced the beauty of the dance.

Next followed the ‘Gavri’ which is the local dance drama of Mewar dedicated to the principal deity of the Bheel tribe of Mewar ‘Gauri’. The ‘Gavri’ was followed by an amazing dance form known as ‘Terah taali’ in which 13 brass instruments known as ‘Manjeera’ are tied on the dancer’s body parts such as waist, wrist, elbow, arms and one pair in hand. Terah means thirteen and taali means clap, this is the only dance performed only by sitting on the two legs, they strike the tied majeeras with the ones in hand in a synchronous pattern to create a rhythm, the synchronization and the precision in the dance were mind-blowing.

Next was the traditional ‘Ghoomer’ dance of Rajasthan where ‘ghoongat ‘clad women in ‘Rajputi Paushak’ performed the dance in a circle, the dance performances ended with the amazing Bhawai dance in which the dancer was a 60-65-year-old lady, the dance involves balancing certain number of earthen pots on the head and then dancing, the dancer also takes a step further by balancing herself on glasses or the rim of a metal dish. The lady in the show danced amazingly, she balanced 11 earthen pots on her head, and each time she increased the number of pots the audience used to cheer her.

Rajasthan the land of royals and the land of fairs and festivals attracts the visitors from across the world. The state is a perfect tourist destination for people who want to make their trip memorable and unforgettable. The state offers many adventurous and thrilling activities like Camel Safari amidst the sand dunes of the desert areas and Wildlife safari in the national parks of Ranthambore. The state is home to many alluring cities lie the city of Lake Udaipur, golden city Jaisalmer, pink city Jaipur, sun city Jodhpur, holy city Pushkar, only hill station Mount Abu and the desert city Bikaner.

Rajasthan is famous for its grand and majestic palaces that narrate the tales of the glorious past and that can be best covered with Fort and Palaces Tour Packages. Amer fort perched on hilltop, City Palace reflecting grandeur of Jaipur, Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, City Palace, Monsoon Palace in the city of Lakes Udaipur, Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer Fort in Jaisalmer are some of the fort and palace attractions of Rajasthan. The state is famous for its heritage hotels which were earlier residence of royal family members but now are converted into the heritage hotels. Some of the heritage hotels of Rajasthan are Umaid Bhawan Palace which is divided into three parts and the three parts serve as heritage hotel, museum, and royal residence respectively, Royal wedding, and Rajasthan Cookery classes which takes the visitors in the bygone era. Rajasthan is land of diverse culture which still has the touch of royalty, history, ethnicity, and vibrancy. The various Jaipur Wax Museum are organized like Palace which takes the visitors on the royal and splendid journey giving the glimpse of the lifestyle of Maharajas of bygone. The Special tour of Rajasthan gives an opportunity to get a glimpse of the exotic places along with the music, art, craft and delicious cuisines of Rajasthan.