Mention Haryana and most people think of Gurgaon. Ask someone about the traditional architecture of Haryana and they’d be hard pushed to tell you about any particular style. Ask people where they should visit in Haryana and you may well draw a blank stare. Even Trip Advisor’s first suggestion is a day trip to Agra, so basically, getting out of Haryana. But then Rare India and I collaborated for a reason. Shoba Rudra has an eye for finding those special places to stay that are owner managed, tell a story and have a keen eye on conservation. I have a reputation for seeking out what’s different, those special destinations that people may not have heard of, but perhaps should.
So perhaps it is fitting that my last stay on #RAREHotelsLive was the lesser known Sadhranabagh in Haryana. This wasn’t just fitting, but also the perfect place for me to unwind, decompress, process, relax and attempt to catch up on sleep.
Sadhranabagh was never designed as a hotel which explains its unconventionality. It was the home, situated close to Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary of the famous architect Pradeep Sachdeva, who is known amongst other projects for Dilli Haat. More than just being a ‘craft market’ Dilli Haat was a first. An urban space created as a people centric experience, combined with rediscovering the heart of India through village craftspeople, and using natural and indigenous construction materials. He then went on to create The Garden of the Five Senses, if you haven’t been there in Delhi, then you should.
This gives you some idea as to his thought process, conserving tangible and non-tangible heritage through traditional mediums. His home is where he could focus on projects he was either simply passionate about, thought would be fun or just stumbled upon. A traditional Keralan home that was going to be destroyed was transported here and rebuilt brick by brick. A collaboration with renowned architect Simon Velez, renowned for his astonishing bamboo creations, saw the installation of The Bamboo House. The Library is for me, a delightful folly of a space, where efficiency of space in the conventional sense seemed not to be an option. Imagine a building, with two story high (if not more) ceilings, on the ground floor, a lounge space, surrounded by books, lots of natural light, and just one bedroom leading off the first floor. It’s a bookworm’s paradise. One could hole up with a back log of books, or a writing project and just loose all sense of time.
These unique buildings are spaced around gardens with all manner of indigenous plants and trees, a swimming pool and fun sculptures peeking out at you from unexpected corners.
A short stroll across the organic farm then brings you to where we started with this piece, the traditional architecture of Haryana. A village close by had beautiful old buildings being left to rot, or were being destroyed in favour of dreadful, modern concrete blocks. Deepak and Sunita, friends of Pradeep, couldn’t allow more tangible heritage of Haryana to be lost and so painstakingly brought an old haveli and restored it on their land. The result is Beri House, a stunning space, resplendent with archways, verandahs and five, wonderful spacious rooms, each with a balcony overlooking the garden. Nothing was wasted. Removing and transporting floor tiles would never be easy, but broken ones were turned into a lovely mosaic floor; removed wooden interiors of doors, replaced by glass, combine to make wall art in the dining space, you get the idea.
The whole, Beri House, Bamboo House, Kerala House and The Library now combine to bring you Sadhranabagh, farm stay, event space and retreat with special focus on nature and architecture. I like to think of it as part home, part folly, part creative space which as a whole, combines to make it a perfect island escape.
I spent two wonderful days here, sort of doing nothing, it lends itself to that perfectly. Well, when I say I did nothing, I strolled around the gardens, tried to photograph the birds, visited the nearby Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, dipped my toes into both swimming pools, curled up with a book I’d been trying to read all trip, did a spot of writing and tried and failed to get the chef to make me smaller portions for my meals, not because the food wasn’t delicious, far from it! Its testament to the skills of the chef who could create meals that were irresistible to someone who’d been on the road eating Indian cuisine for 5 weeks and who thought they couldn’t eat another bite.
Well, that’s my kind of doing nothing, but also thinking about who this unique, creative and calming space would be good for. It’s not an obvious destination. It’s not an obvious sell. Other than Sultanpur, there’s nothing to do around it. In part, that’s its charm. I would think, it’s a great space for the following:
- A last stay for clients coming to the end of a trip and flying out of Delhi, it is certainly far nicer than Aerocity and just 1.5 hours from the airport. I did it in 1 hour but that was at 10pm. When clients can be dealing with India overwhelm, it’s a nice calm decompress.
- Birders and birding groups, it’s really close to Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary.
- Architects, designers and those traveling with small specialist groups, whether culinary or photography or textiles etc. It has lots of space and spaces to hold talks and demonstrations etc.
- The Delhi expat crowd looking for a couple of days away from the city, but not wanting to drive miles!
- It’s also a great space for small celebrations and private parties.
So, there we go, that’s me done. The first #RAREHotelsLive comes to an end, and what a place to end on. A secret, a surprise, a special space that made us smile and showcases the reason behind Shoba and I do what we do.
Over and out!
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