Seth Arjun Das Goenka Haveli Rajasthan

A short distance south of Satyanarayan Temple is the restored 1875–85 haveli (traditional, ornately decorated residence) belonging to the Goenka family. As with all restored havelis, the bright colours are something of a shock after the muted tones of murals faded with age. The interior offers an illustration of the merchants’ lives, beginning with their reception room, cooled by huge punkas (cloth fans, swung by pulling a cord), and all about there are scatterings of everyday life from another era. Look for reminders of the cotton merchant’s samples from Calcutta (now Kolkata).