A Tryst with Heritage - WTM 2011 Special

Restoring its glory

Lying lifeless for many years, Jal Mahal, the pleasure palace in Mansagar Lake, Jaipur has returned to life, courtesy Jal Mahal Resorts. After renovating the historical Jal Mahal complex, the company is taking the project to the next level by constructing a resort equipped with several high-end amenities and facilities. By Nupur Singh

Jal Mahal, a monument of historical and cultural importance dates back to the 18th century built as a gathering place for royal families, hosting duck-hunting parties, picnics, firework displays and music and dance performances. Situated in the heart of the city and in the Mansagar Lake in Jaipur, Jal Mahal is surrounded by water. It took six years and an investment of Rs 20 crore to clean the Mansagar Lake of the silt and bring it back to its original state. Of these, it took five years of rigorous efforts by a team of professional conservation architects, local craftsmen and artisans along with other specialists to resurrect the monument. Jal Mahal was built with pavilions, romantic passages and a terrace garden. In 2005, the Rajasthan government granted a lease to Jal Mahal Resorts in order to develop 100 acres along the Mansagar Lake, including the Jal Mahal. The company headed by the KGK Group recruited experts from all over the world to restore the former glory of Jal Mahal and Mansagar Lake. The Jal Mahal Resorts project includes the creation of Jal Tarang, a green leisure destination for visitors and locals alike along Mansagar Lake that will include environment-friendly accommodation, independent galleries and boutiques, and lakeside dining along a tree-lined promenade, all in keeping with Jaipur’s heritage as the artistic heart of India. A public private partnership (PPP), the project due to be completed in several phases promises to be a destination in itself with a monument and a resort with entertainment, food courts, shopping areas, hotels and conference centres attracting and boosting both the leisure and MICE market.

Tackling challenges

Rajeev Lunkad

Unlike other projects, Jal Mahal involves a complicated task of renovating and resurrecting a monument. The company encountered several problems while working on the project both in renovating the monument and developing the resort. Restoration of the monument was an important aspect of the project. This included recreating the terrace garden and renovating the narrow corridors exhibiting glimpses from history through paintings. During the renovation, the daunting task of rejuvenating Jaipur’s nearly dead lake spread across 300-acres area. Non-availability of strong historical references or antecedents made the job even more difficult. Furthermore, getting artisans and craftsman who have inherited the traditional art and craft was a chalenge.

In developing the resort, the main challenges that the company came across in the beginning were keeping the architecture in line with the aesthetics of the place, maintaining the environment and ecology of the space. As it is a green and zero discharge project, there, logistic and material management also becomes a challenge.

On these challenges, Rajeev Lunkad, project director, Jal Mahal Resorts said, “The lake is the life of the resort and cleaning and reviving the lake was the greatest challenge that we faced. We had to remove the silt deposited at the base of the lake and developed an eco-friendly water treatment system to improve the quality of the lake. We have also developed a wetland area within the lake which has now become a mini bird sanctuary.” Furthermore, in order to retain the water in the lake seven million litres of treated water is pumped into the lake on a daily basis.

An integrated destination

The resort is being completed in three phases. The first phase of work is now concluded and includes the restoration of the lake and the monument. The second and third phase have now commenced. The second phase will include retail and entertainment facilities and will be open to the public from January 2013. The third phase includes the development of upscale hotels and will conclude by January 2014. The total investment of the project is estimated at Rs 1,000 crore, around US$ 210 million given the use of sustainable development technology and materials. The resort would have a lot to offer its guests including, a restored monument with an exhibition, boat rides to the monument, a newly created habitat for birds in form of wetlands acting as an observation and educational platform on flora and fauna, art and craft retail precinct and demonstration areas for artisans, food and beverage facilities of varying size and cuisine, open and covered entertainment facilities for the public, themed dining and wedding venue, large conference centre for 2000 pax. It will have an up-market hotel with approximately 330 keys, and a luxury hotel with approximately 120 keys. Lunkad says, “The project will help in improving the MICE appeal of Jaipur. With integrated residential and entertainment facilities it will significantly improve occupancy at other hotels in Jaipur during low occupancy months. Moreover, the MICE business will be promoted via our tie ups with international MICE operators and showcase of the product at international events such as GITB.”

On his expectations from the project, Lunkad states, “We expect this project to act as a benchmark for successful PPP projects in tourism and present a world-class family entertainment facility to India.” Apart from this, the company aims to create an environment friendly and sustainable tourism project by conserving the built heritage. Through this project, they look forward to present a benchmark in ecological restoration and management of scarce water resources for the country to follow. According to the company, this project would improve Jaipur’s tourism product and add US$ 200 million as investment and create 8,000 jobs for the city improving India's foreign exchange earnings by US$ 90 million every year in the long run. This would further reduce seasonality of demand for tourism in Jaipur, enable and empower the artisans that are increasingly getting extinct, thereby supporting poverty alleviation and wealth distribution.