Diamond in the dust: a tour of India's desert museum
The brightly decorated fort town of Mandawa in India's Rajasthan state has been delighting visitors for centuries
As we turn our heads to admire the intricately painted detailing of puppet-maker Ganesh Joshi's home, he proudly pronouces: "The paintwork is 150 years old. It has never been repainted. We just clean it with water every year during the Diwali festive season."
Joshi is referring to one of the beautiful, bright frescoes in his haveli, Joshi Bhavan, in the small town of Mandawa, in the semi-arid Shekhawati region of northeast Rajasthan.
A three-hour drive north of Jaipur, the town, which amassed its wealth as a trading outpost on the ancient Silk Road, has many of these beautiful, palatial homes.
Today Joshi makes his living making typical Rajasthani wood and cloth puppets, which he sells outside the gates of Joshi Bhavan and to local hotels in the region. These too are museum worthy.
"My ancestors were wealthy," he says. They were aristocrats who worked for the Mandawa royal family, resulting in a grant of land to build a luxurious home in proximity to the castle.
I sip on kullad chai - the traditional sweet, milky tea that Joshi's wife has offered - and from the roof of Joshi Bhavan admire the vistas and the beautiful colours popping off nearby havelis, which appear as an intricate maze of arches and doorways, each one entirely unique.