Look up in a room at Diggi Palace and you may find something a modern hotel rarely offers: a ceiling that was decorated by hand. The painted details are among the quietest and most beautiful parts of the palace.
A Rajasthani tradition
Painted walls, arches and ceilings are a long-standing feature of Rajasthani palaces and havelis. Craftspeople typically used floral and geometric patterns, and sometimes scenes, applied directly to the plaster surfaces of the building. The decoration was part of the architecture itself, not an afterthought.
What you can see at Diggi Palace
Several Heritage rooms at Diggi Palace have hand-painted ceilings, often paired with windows that frame the gardens. In some rooms, painted floral motifs also run around the arches, so the decoration frames the doorways and the light as well as the ceiling.
Because it is a restored heritage palace, no two rooms are ever alike. Each has its own proportions, its own painted details and its own view, which is part of the reason guests tend to remember their room.
The play of light
These details are best seen in daylight. The jharokhas and arched windows of the palace let in filtered, shifting light, and the painted surfaces change across the day, from soft morning tones to warmer afternoon colour.
Looking after them
Preserving painted surfaces is slow, careful work, which is one reason the palace has been adapted for modern comfort without being rebuilt. The aim is for the details you see to be the ones the palace has always had.