About Samode
The town of Samode , 42 km north-west of Jaipur , snoops at
the foot of the low hills that lead to Shekhawati , a small region of north-western Rajasthan where the ancient
caravan route, coming from the Gujarat coast ,
connected with the they led to the famous Silk Road , where many Marwari
traders settled in the seventeenth century
- originally from the region of Jhodpur , or Marwar, on the opposite
borders of Rajasthan - whose trade in fabrics, spices and opium offered them
enormous wealth, with which they built magnificent residences, the Haveli,
whose local peculiarity is that of being often entirely frescoed.
The house of royal palaces, forts and ancient structures is one of the most special states of India, Rajasthan, which represents the country at the global level. This state has been in the main attractions of India, with its existence, where tourists from India and abroad prefer to visit more. Historically-culturally, it is a prosperous state of the country. With cities like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Ajmer, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan is considered to be a special destination for tourism
Even Samode, although geographically excluded from the
Shekhawati proper, contains some frescoed Havelis , but also a magnificent
palace built in 1600 by a scion of the House of Amber , with large courtyards,
gardens and reception halls (now turned into a fairy-tale hotel in 5 stars , a favorite destination for
opulent Indian style weddings, but also ancient temples, stepped wells and
fortresses that dominate the surrounding hills.
In Samode you can also decide to stay for a while by being hosted by local families, to savor the famous hospitality, exquisite home cooking and also have time to closely observe the craft activities of the place. The silence and the historical memories that hover in the various monuments of the area contrast with the vitality of the streets of the center, populated by numerous communities of artisans almost constantly occupied in their traditional activities: block printed fabrics, lacquered bracelets, carpets, jewelry, miniatures and inlay, utensils, pottery, slippers etc. but also agriculture and breeding in the numerous farms surrounding the village.
More than thirty families are equipped to host tourists in
the city and its surroundings. Several families of Samode then belong to the
community of Kalbeliyas , in clothing, music and dances of which you will not
struggle to recognize some of the distant cousins ​​of those who became, after
long adventures, the Gypsies of Spain: the Roma people , in short .
Their community, traditionally devoted to entertainment and
breeding of camels, involved together with the elephants on every occasion of
celebration, as are also the numerous and brilliant marriages celebrated here
(which you can always try to participate ) contributes a lot to the charm of
the place, which can easily become the hub of an entire journey in the region.
