Testimonials: Tijara Fort Palace - Alwar

"A huge thanks to all of them who made our group (rotary) one of the best overnight experiences at Tijara on 2nd December which was truly enjoyable and remarkable. Everyone enjoyed the courteousness of your staff. The food was good, the rooms were comfortable, the lawns were well maintained and the facilities were up to the mark. The best compliments to everyone at Tijara. Most of us are looking forward to spending a longer stay at your services. Thanks again."
"Thanks for the magical days of poetry and meditative discussions, for sharing your writing and the creative process. That mystic poetry has so much density and diversity was brought home through the sessions, and the evening programme on Lorca’s “Deep Song” illustrated the oneness of poetic language across barriers of time and geography.
Tijara Fort was the perfect setting for our Retreat, and Aman, we were lucky to have you amongst us, introducing the history and mystical meanings of such heritage space. Teamwork, I appreciate all the details of our comfortable stay.
Thank you-- each one of you—for the memorable days. I cherish our conversations and the warm friendship. The programme may lead towards a publication which we can discuss another time."
“We laboured up the incline and, fifteen minutes later, arrived at the summit—a wind-whipped vantage point that overlooked acres of unpopulated farmland. Clusters of palm trees swayed in the distance under a gorgeous blue sky. It was a beautiful setting for a hotel. And the nineteenth-century fort-palace of Tijara in Alwar had fallen into most excellent hands—the Neemrana group of hotels.”“It is a beautiful piece of history that nobody has ever lived in and will soon be converted into a hotel.”“These erstwhile protective bastions were now picture-perfect windows with each one framing a different aspect of the surrounding country. The bathroom was also large and luxurious. The room's balconies, in fact the whole building had been renovated by using the same materials as the original structure: sandstone for the walls and floors, and grey stone for the sills and staircases. The furniture was either old or built in the same fashion, and included ornate wooden almirahs with painted doors and some mirrorwork…
"A swimming pool was being constructed on the south side of our building. I could see that it will have a long uninterrupted view of the plains stretching out to the township of Tijara. The feeling it would evoke was that of being transported back to the age of the maharajas.....”“We’re in Alwar, the gateway to Rajasthan, where we’re staring at undiluted antiquity in the facades of a desolate monument, Tijara Fort. The turreted towers of its Hawa Mahal where the winds waft in at will and a low sequestered structure Rani Mahal are all that’s visible of a lost kingdom by the Aravalis.Winding up to the fort, views of relic landscapes melt away modernity. To the west, like a scene from the Old Testament, are date palms bent by desert breezes. To the east, till the mountain horizons, are green fields that’ll turn into cloudy grey-blue lakes in the monsoon.”“It's a wonderful little fort palace called Tijara, still being restored. Quiet and beautiful, can’t ask for more.”“A stupendous effort has been underway to give history a new interpretation….
The basic decision was to use the hilly nature of the terrain to locate all the large-scale functions at such depths that they would not clutter the historic composition of the three historic buildings above the ground. The three historic buildings have been creatively restored and eclectically renewed with an eye for detail. Tijara teaches us how it’s not the relentless conservation of singular, old buildings but the creative use and adaptive reuse of a complex of historic buildings in their larger context that gives the best results.”