Alwar, the forgotten princely capital between Delhi and Jaipur

A kingdom carved out of the hills

• The founder: Pratap Singh, of the Naruka branch of the Kachwaha clan, the same family that ruled Jaipur.
• From landholder to king: he began as a minor landholder, used the confusion of the late eighteenth century and established a state of his own in 1770.
• The capital: soon afterwards he took the ridge fort, and his successors built a capital beneath it.
• The Matsya Union: in 1948 Alwar joined Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli in this short-lived union, named after the ancient kingdom of the Mahabharata that once lay here. In 1949 it merged into Rajasthan.
• Vinay Singh: in the first half of the nineteenth century, a great builder and a patron of painters and calligraphers.
• Mangal Singh: the very first student to arrive at Mayo College in Ajmer when it opened in 1875.
• Jai Singh: in the early twentieth century, famously brilliant, extravagant and difficult. The British eventually forced him out in the 1930s.
• The Rolls-Royce story: every taxi driver will tell you he had his Rolls-Royces collect the city's rubbish after a slight in a London showroom. It is almost certainly untrue, but it shows how Alwar likes to remember its kings.

The City Palace and the cenotaph by the tank

• The Government Museum: on the upper floors, keeping what remains of the royal collections. They are richer than the dusty rooms suggest.
• Manuscripts: illustrated works, including one on the life of Babur.
• Paintings: Ragamala sets, which pair musical modes with images of lovers and seasons, and Alwar miniatures.
• The armoury: swords, shields and daggers, some said to have belonged to famous emperors.
• The Sagar: a formal tank behind the palace, with steps on every side and small pavilions at the corners, set against the hill.
• Moosi Maharani ki Chhatri: Vinay Singh built it to honour his father Bakhtawar Singh and Moosi, a consort who died on his funeral pyre in the practice of sati, which India rightly outlawed in the nineteenth century.
• Its beauty: a lower storey of red sandstone arches and a pavilion of white marble above, its ceiling painted with scenes from mythology and court life.
• Alwar at its gentlest: in the late afternoon the light warms the sandstone, the ridge glows behind, and families come to feed the fish and sit on the steps.

Bala Quila, the fort on the ridge

• Its defences: eight great bastions and hundreds of loopholes for muskets.
• Inside: the remains of palaces, temples and water tanks, some ruined, some restored.
• The real reward: the whole of Alwar spread out below, the Sagar and the palace at your feet, and the Aravallis rolling away towards Sariska.
• The road up: it winds steeply through dry forest, and leopards are sometimes reported in the hills around the fort.
• How we do it: in a sturdy vehicle with a driver who knows the route, in the morning, when the air is clear and the light falls on the walls.
• Take water and a hat: there is little shade on the ridge.

More of Alwar, slowly

Siliserh, the lake palace in the hills

• The palace now: run as a hotel by the state tourism corporation. Simple rather than luxurious, but the setting is lovely.
• Winter birds: migratory ducks fill the lake, and egrets and cormorants hunt along the shore.
• After the monsoon: the hills are green and the lake is at its fullest.
• How we spend it: tea on the terrace, a boat if the lake is calm, and the light changing on the water. A good end to a day in Alwar or start to the drive to Sariska.
• A lesson in water: in a land of short monsoons, every king who could afford it built a dam, tank or stepwell, and the best, like this one, were meant to be beautiful as well as useful.
• Weekends: the lake is popular with families from Alwar and Delhi.

Neemrana, the fort-palace on the Delhi road

• A movement began here: it became the model for rescuing India's forts and palaces by turning them into places to stay.
• Never made uniform: at the Neemrana Fort-Palace every room is different, and many open onto terraces, balconies or small gardens with views across the plain.
• The village stepwell: walk down to see the deep, many-levelled baori that few guests visit. It belongs in any list of the stepwells of Rajasthan.
• The perfect first night: leave Delhi after lunch, arrive for sunset on the ramparts, and drive on to Alwar next morning.
• Quieter still: the same restoration group runs smaller fort hotels in the Alwar hills, including Tijara and Kesroli.

Sariska, the tiger forest next door

• Other wildlife: leopards, sambar, nilgai, jungle cats and a rich birdlife.
• Neelkanth: an ancient temple cluster inside the reserve.
• Kankwari: an old fort deep in the forest.
• Pandupol: where tradition says the Pandavas of the Mahabharata rested during their exile.
• Sariska Palace: the maharajas' former hunting lodge, now a hotel on the edge of the forest.
• Go deeper: our journal piece on Alwar and Sariska, and our guide to tiger and leopard safaris on how we choose zones, vehicles and naturalists.

Mewat, its people and its crafts

• Their bards: known for singing long epics in the Mewati dialect, including their own version of the Mahabharata.
• Patrons of painting: under Vinay Singh in particular, painters and calligraphers worked at court in a style mixing the colour of Jaipur with the fine finish of Delhi's Mughal ateliers.
• Later influences: the Alwar style went on to absorb European touches too.
• Where to see it: the museum in the City Palace is worth a slow hour, and our guide to miniature painting explains how to look at them.
• Kagzi pottery: a paper-thin, delicately cut ware that few craftsmen still make. Ask, and we will try to find a family still practising it.
• Textiles: good block-printed and tie-dyed cloth in the bazaars, though for serious textile shopping we would save your energy for Jaipur.

What we eat in Alwar

• Evenings in the bazaar: samosas and tea in small glasses.
• Meat: meat-eating households cook rich mutton curries in the Rajput style, especially in the cooler months.
• Watch the milk cake made: huge iron pans of milk stirred for hours until they thicken and caramelise, then set in trays and cut into dense, fudgy squares.
• The taste of Alwar: it is what most people take home.
• A special dinner: we arrange meals on the ramparts at Neemrana, or a private table at your lodge near Sariska, cooked the way the old royal kitchens of the region cooked.

Where to stay around Alwar

When to come to Alwar

• April to June: hot, and we keep sightseeing to early mornings and evenings.
• The monsoon: the hills turn green and Siliserh and the Sagar tank fill. Lovely if you do not mind the rain.
• Sariska in the rains: its core zones usually close for part of the monsoon, so plan tiger safaris between October and June.
• The wider picture: our month-by-month guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan.

Getting to Alwar

• By train: Alwar's station is on the main Delhi to Jaipur line, with fast trains to both cities.
• Nearby: Siliserh is about twenty minutes away, Sariska a short drive south-west and Bhangarh around two hours.
• Transfers: our guide to getting around Rajasthan explains how we plan them.

Two days around Alwar

Who will love Alwar, and who may not

• A gift for drivers: anyone between Delhi and Jaipur who would rather spend a night in a fort than six hours on a highway.
• It may frustrate you if: you expect polished monuments with cafes and smooth paths.
• Honestly: the museum is old-fashioned, the palace courtyards are full of offices, and some roads are rough.
• With only a week: we would probably keep you in Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur.
• With ten days or more: or a love of slower journeys, Alwar, Sariska and Neemrana add a side of Rajasthan most visitors never see.

What we tell our own cousins

• Ask for the museum's best pieces: without help, the highlights are easy to miss.
• Confirm Bala Quila first: arrangements and road conditions change.
• Book Sariska early in winter: especially at weekends, when Delhi families come in numbers.
• Dress modestly at temples: in Sariska and around the city, and remove your shoes where others do.
• Pack a light jacket: Alwar's December and January mornings are colder and foggier than most visitors expect.
• Restored forts: read our piece on royal families today, which explains how many keep their heritage alive through hotels.