The Story of Shekhawati’s Merchant Treasuries

In the semi-desert of northern Rajasthan lies Shekhawati, a region that covers parts of today’s Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Churu districts. Its small towns hold one of the most remarkable concentrations of painted mansions in the world, built by merchant families whose wealth once travelled across India.

The merchants of Shekhawati

From the eighteenth century onwards, Marwari trading families from towns such as Mandawa, Nawalgarh, Fatehpur, Ramgarh and Churu prospered in trade. Many later moved to the growing commercial cities of Calcutta and Bombay, but they kept sending their wealth home, and spent it on magnificent havelis: courtyard houses whose walls were covered inside and out with frescoes.

An open-air art gallery

The paintings show gods and goddesses, scenes from the epics, Krishna’s life, processions, elephants and horses, and in later years trains, motorcars, gramophones and Europeans in hats: a painted diary of a changing world. Shekhawati is often called an open-air art gallery for this reason.

Why “treasuries”?

A haveli was not only a home. It was where a family kept what it valued most: silver for rituals and weddings, jewellery and pearls, coins, textiles and brocades, brass and copper vessels, carved wooden chests, paintings and oleographs. Over the decades, as families moved to the cities and many havelis fell quiet, some of these objects slowly found their way into the world of collectors.

What survives today

Objects from merchant households of this region and era include silver paan daans and rose-water sprinklers, brass lamps, old locks and keys, glass perfume bottles, devotional oleographs and textiles. Each carries a small piece of the story of the families who used them.

Visiting Shekhawati

Many havelis can still be seen, some carefully restored and others fading gently. If you visit, go slowly, look up at the painted ceilings, and remember that these are often private homes.

At Antiqo

Our love for this region shapes how we look at objects. When we know a piece’s origin, we share it; when we don’t, we never invent one.

Browse rare silver, paintings and curiosities in Collector’s Corner, or message us on WhatsApp to book a video viewing.