From a fort on the pass to a painted palace
A fort on the pass: the first building here was a Rajput fort, put up in the sixteenth century to guard a pass through the Aravalli hills north of Amer.
The family: its lords were Nathawats, a branch of the Kachwaha clan who ruled Amer and later Jaipur. They held Samode as a thikana, a noble estate, in return for loyalty and service.
- First fort
- Sixteenth century, guarding a pass
- The family
- Nathawats, a branch of the Kachwahas
- Title
- Rawal, lords of a noble estate
- Palace years
- Nineteenth century
- A hotel since
- 1987
- Rawal Berisal: a powerful minister at the Jaipur court, remembered for signing the treaty of 1818 with the British East India Company on the Maharaja's behalf. At home he began turning the fort into a palace.
- Rawal Sheo Singh: his descendant served for years as prime minister of Jaipur state in the mid-nineteenth century, added the great painted Durbar Hall and gave the palace much of its present form.
- A house in town too: the same Rawal built the family's townhouse inside Jaipur's walled city, now Samode Haveli.
- The style: Rajput fort walls softened with arcades, courtyards and pavilions in the blended Rajput and Mughal manner of the age.
- A hotel in 1987: the family opened the palace to guests and still owns and runs it, with the haveli and Samode Bagh, their garden camp nearby.
- Why it matters: the people looking after these painted rooms know who commissioned them, and why. Our journal piece on staying with a royal family describes what that is like.
The Durbar Hall, the Sheesh Mahal and the painted rooms
The Durbar Hall
Who built it: Rawal Sheo Singh added this audience hall in the mid-nineteenth century, and it is the heart of Samode.
What covers it: painted flowers, vines, birds and borders in red, green, blue and gold, over walls, arches, pillars and ceiling.
- Look up: a gallery runs round the upper level, from which the women of the household could watch the court below unseen.
- Look closer: no two painted panels are quite alike. The painters clearly enjoyed themselves.
- Still in use: the hall hosts dinners and celebrations, so it feels lived in, not like a museum.
The Sheesh Mahal
What it is: the hall of mirrors, its surfaces set with small pieces of mirror and coloured glass in floral patterns.
- When to see it: after dark if you can. Mirror rooms were made for lamplight, and a single flame fills the room with sparks.
- Compare it: if you have seen the Sheesh Mahal at Amber Fort, Samode's is smaller and more intimate, and you are not sharing it with a crowd.
The Sultan Mahal and the older frescoes
Their age: the family dates the older paintings to around two and a half centuries ago.
- Their condition: some have faded, and some show the patient repair work that keeps an old palace alive.
- Their use: these are living rooms rather than galleries, used for meals and gatherings.
Courtyards and terraces
The plan: the palace climbs its hillside in courtyards, each smaller and more private than the last, linked by stairs, balconies and passages.
- The view: from the upper terraces you look over the village roofs to the fields and hills.
- Get lost: wandering the levels without a map is part of the pleasure.
What staying here is like
After Jaipur, Samode is startlingly quiet. You hear temple bells at dusk, peacocks on the hills, a tractor going home, and then nothing at all. For a honeymoon, a family reunion or a pause in a long journey, that silence is the real luxury.
Every room is different: many have painted walls, jharokha windows, carved doors and old furniture.
Which to ask for: the palace climbs a slope, so we ask for upper-floor rooms with a view over the village or hills, rather than an inner court. The higher rooms have the best light.
- No category games: we won't quote room names, but we know the house and choose a room for each guest.
- Old-building realities: many stairs, uneven levels, narrow passages and some rooms reached by steps. Guests with limited mobility should tell us before booking.
- History without ropes: you sleep in it, dine in it and walk through it at midnight.
- The pools: set into the terraces with the hills rising behind. A swim in the afternoon sun, then tea on a terrace, is the rhythm of a winter day.
- Rest, not a spa resort: massage can be arranged, but this is a palace for slowing down. We tell guests so.
- On screen: the 1984 television series The Far Pavilions was filmed here, along with many Hindi films.
- Evenings: in the cool months, drinks on a terrace as the village lights come on, then dinner in a courtyard or a painted room.
- Family in residence: this is still the family's house, and a member of the family may well be dining at the next table.
Up to the old fort at first light
The climb: a stone path climbs from the palace to the ruins on the ridge, the family's first stronghold. It is steep in places, with good spots to stop and look back.
The view: the palace below, the village tumbling from its gate, the fields beyond and the long blue line of the Aravallis.
- The path
- About three hundred stone steps
- Allow
- Twenty minutes up at an easy pace
- Best time
- Before sunrise
- Bring
- Water and proper shoes
- Watch for
- Monkeys on the ridge
- By season: in winter the plain is green and yellow with wheat and mustard. After the monsoon the hills themselves turn green.
- The legend: village children will tell you a secret tunnel runs from the fort to the palace. Nobody has ever found it.
- Carry nothing edible: the monkeys know what a paper bag means.
- On the way down: the palace can arrange chai on a terrace, with the village waking up below you.
Samode Bagh, the family's garden camp
What it is: a walled garden in the Mughal style, laid out along a central water channel with fountains, terraces and a pavilion.
What grows: fruit and flowering trees, planted for shade and scent.
- Why it was built: gardens like this were the summer retreats of Rajput nobility, cooler than a palace and full of running water.
- How you stay: in large, comfortable tents among the trees, with a proper bed and a hot shower.
- Who it suits: families with children, couples who want space and anyone who loves sleeping under canvas.
- Do both: many of our guests spend one night in the palace and one at the Bagh.
- Just for a meal: even if you stay at the palace, we arrange lunch or a lamp-lit dinner by the water channel.
- Going further: our page on desert camps and dunes describes the camps we use deeper in the Thar.
The village at the palace gate
The bazaar: it runs right up to the palace walls and sells vegetables, steel pots, cloth and sweets, the things a farming village needs.
Bangles: sellers set out stacks of lac and glass bangles in every colour.
- Morning sweets: the halwai, the sweet-maker, fries hot jalebis early. A paper cone of them on the walk back is a small perfect thing.
- Daily life: children in pressed uniforms walking to school, women carrying water in brass pots, a buffalo blocking the lane.
- Evening aarti: at dusk the temples ring for the aarti, the offering of light. Stand quietly at the back.
- How we walk it: only with local guides, as a visit to people's homes rather than a sight.
- Manners: ask before photographing anyone, especially women. If invited in for tea, accept, and take your shoes off at the door.
- Go deeper: our rural homestays page explains how we work with village families.
Eating at Samode
The kitchen: cooks the food of the Rajput nobility alongside a lighter international menu. Order the Rajasthani dishes.
Laal maas: mutton in a fiery red sauce of Mathania chillies, from the hunting camps and courts of families like this one.
- Safed maas: the gentle white version, made with cream and ground nuts.
- For vegetarians: gatte ki sabzi, gram-flour dumplings in spiced yoghurt, and ker sangri, the dried desert berries and beans of the Thar.
- In winter: bajre ki roti, heavy millet bread eaten with white butter and jaggery, and greens from the village fields.
- Private meals: we arrange dinners in the painted rooms, on the upper terraces or at Samode Bagh, sometimes with folk musicians. See our page on a private dinner in a palace.
- Learn a dish: ask about a cooking session with the kitchen. Our Rajasthani food guide explains what you will meet.
Around Samode
Village drives: go slowly through the surrounding villages in the late afternoon, as the cattle come home and shepherds move flocks along the ridges.
Chomu: on the road back to Jaipur, a busy market town built around the fort-palace of another old noble family.
- Flamingos: in winter, Sambhar Lake, India's largest inland salt lake, makes a long half-day out.
- The painted towns: Shekhawati begins about three hours north, and Samode is the natural first night on the road.
- A warrior fort: go north-east to Alila Fort Bishangarh for a night on a granite hill, a striking contrast to Samode's painted rooms.
- Back via Amer: return to Jaipur through Amer and reach Amber Fort as the gates open.
- Stepwells and ponds: many villages nearby still have a johad, a pond built to catch the monsoon rain, and some have old stepwells. Ask your guide to show you one.
- Birds: on an early walk you may see peafowl in the fields, a mongoose on the path or vultures circling over the ridge.
When to come
October to March: warm, dry days. February and March are especially lovely, with golden fields and soft light.
December and January: nights turn properly cold. Bring layers for the terraces and the dawn fort climb.
- Best months
- October to March
- Coldest nights
- December and January
- Hot season
- April to June
- Monsoon
- July to September, green and quiet
- Busiest
- The winter wedding season
- April to June: intense heat. The palace becomes a place for long siestas and late swims.
- The monsoon: green hills, cloud over the ridge and very few visitors.
- Holi: in February or March the village street fills with colour and drums.
- Teej: in the monsoon, swings hang from the trees and women dress in green leheriya.
- Diwali: the palace and the houses below are lit with lamps, and the view from the terraces is unforgettable.
- Weddings: Samode is one of the most sought-after wedding palaces near Jaipur. We check the calendar, and our page on destination weddings helps if you want to marry here.
What most visitors miss
The halls by lamplight: after dinner the painted walls glow and the Sheesh Mahal sparkles, the way they were meant to be seen.
Dawn on the ridge: the fort climb before sunrise, with the village smoke rising below.
- The village at dusk: cattle coming home, the aarti bells, and families gathering on the temple platforms to talk.
- The upper terraces: most visitors never climb past the main courtyards. Keep going up for the best views over the roofs.
- The night sky: away from Jaipur's lights, winter nights here are clear and full of stars.
- Breakfast in the sun: a slow breakfast on a terrace, with nowhere to be, is the luxury the day visitors never get.
Who will love Samode, and who won't
Couples and honeymooners: the painted rooms, the terraces and the silence make it one of the most romantic stays in Rajasthan. It is a favourite on Rajasthan for Two.
Lovers of art and architecture: you will spend hours in the Durbar Hall and the Sheesh Mahal.
- Families with older children: they love the fort climb and the village. Young children may prefer the lawns of Samode Bagh.
- Long-journey travellers: a perfect pause between cities.
- Limited mobility: talk to us first. The palace has many stairs and uneven levels.
- Not for nightlife or shopping: keep those for Jaipur, an hour away. For a modern spa, choose The Oberoi Rajvilas.
How Samode fits our journeys
The classic pairing: two nights at Samode Haveli inside Jaipur's walled city, then one or two here. The same family runs both, and you see the court and the country.
Heading north: our Shekhawati journey continues from Samode to the painted towns.
- On a grand tour: the Royal Rajputana uses Samode as a pause before the long drives west.
- Village estates: our journey Village Rajasthan strings together noble estates like this one across the state.
- From a city hotel: guests at Rambagh Palace often come for lunch on a day trip. Do it, but stay the night if you can. Overnight guests see the Durbar Hall at dawn and by lamplight.
- Compare the palaces: our guide to palace hotels sets Samode beside the great palaces of the state.
Before you go
Pack layers: winter evenings on the terraces are chilly, and the dawn fort climb is cold until the sun is up.
Bring proper shoes: for the steps, the uneven palace floors and the stone path to the fort.
- Dress modestly in the village: shoulders and knees covered, and a scarf for temples.
- Carry small notes: for chai, jalebis, bangles and temple offerings.
- Learn one greeting: khamma ghani, the Rajasthani hello, opens every door in the village.
- Tell us your interests: murals, birds, food or village life. We brief the palace and the local guide so the day fits you.
Getting there
From Jaipur: about an hour by car through Chomu, longer in the morning rush.
From the airport: we meet you at the aircraft door or the arrivals hall, and drive straight out of the city.
- From Jaipur
- About 40 km, roughly an hour
- Route
- North through Chomu
- From the airport
- About an hour and a half
- To Mandawa
- About three hours
- Nearest airport
- Jaipur International (JAI)
- From Delhi: an easy day's drive, and Samode makes a gentle first night in Rajasthan.
- Onwards: our guide to road distances and drive times has the rest of the state.
- Once you are here: your chauffeur stays in Samode. Inside the palace and the village, everything is on foot.