NAWALGARH with a population of forty thousand has been the throbbing fulcrum of the life and history of Shekhawati. it was founded in 1737 A.D. by Thakur Nawal Singh whose fame is enshired in history and folkore. Despite the instrution of mordern cilvilization, parts of the town still exude an old-world charm. In conformity with the general pattern of Shekhawati, there are more than fifty mansions here with painted walls, with undisputed claim to artistic pre-eminence. It is situated at the center of the Bikaner-Delhi-Jaipur traingle, convenitently distanced from Delhi (260 km), Jaipur (145 km) and Bikaner (225 km).
Central Nawalgarh has plenty of old-fashioned, small-town charm, with dozens of tiny shops and lots of street vendors hawking piles of merchandise by the side of the road. At the heart of the town, the fort (Bala Qila) has more or less vanished under a clutch of modern buildings huddled around a central courtyard which now hosts the town’s colorful vegetable market. the dilapidated building on the far left-hand side of the courtyard (by the bank of Baroda) boasts a magnificent, earily echoing Sheesh Mahal, covered in mirror-work,which once served as the dressing room of the maharani of Nawalgarh, its ceiling decorated