Haveli (, ) is the term used for a private mansion in
India and
Pakistan. The word
haveli is derived from
Persian meaning "an enclosed place". They share similar features with other mansions derived from
Islamic Architecture such as the traditional mansions in Morocco called
Riads
Mughal Havelis
Many of the havelis of India and Pakistan were influenced by
Islamic Persian,
Central Asian and
Indian architecture. They usually contain a courtyard often with a fountain in the centre. The old cities of in
Agra,
Lucknow and
Delhi in
India and
Lahore,
Multan,
Peshawar,
Hyderabad in
Pakistan have many fine examples of
Mughal-
style havelis.
Rajasthani Havelis
The term
Haveli was first applied in Rajasthan by the
Vaishnava sect to refer to their temples in
Gujarat. In the northern part of India havelis for Lord Krishna are prevalent with huge mansion like constructions. The havelis are noted for their
frescoes depicting images of
gods,
goddesses, animals, scenes from the
British colonization, and the life stories of Lords
Rama and
Krishna.
Later on these temple architectures and frescoes were imitated while building huge individual mansions and now the word is popularly recognized with the mansions themselves. Between 1830 and 1930, Marwari's erected buildings in their homeland,
Shekhawati and
Marwar. These buildings were called havelis. The Marwaris commissioned artists to paint those buildings which were heavily influenced by the
Mughal......
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