The New Jaipur Scene: A Cultural Guide

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Kate Lough reflects on a visit to the Pink City in full cultural swing, experiencing the Jaipur Literary Festival, Jaipur Art Week and many contemporary arts happenings engineered by the city's vibrant young Maharajah, Sawai Padmanabh Singh, known as ‘Pacho’. She shares highlights from Jaipur's 'new' cultural scene. 

BY KATE LOUGH | CABANA TRAVEL | 5 MARCH 2025

The Johri, Jaipur © Jaipur Johri 

The palace courtyard was eerily quiet. The last tourists of the day long gone and the night ours. A handsome man steered us towards a hidden stairwell, where photographs of the great and the good decorated the walls, and hip hop guided us through its twists and turns. Resurfacing, we were met with 360 degree views of Jaipur’s City Palace. 

We arrived at the rooftop of the Sarvato, where the Maharajah still receives his private audiences and where festivals, ceremonies and celebrations are held. It's also the unique location for its eponymous new restaurant, a joint venture from the palace’s current custodian, Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh, and entrepreneur Abhishek Honawar.

The Sarvato brings a tasting menu concept, the first in the city, to the ‘nucleus’ of the palace. “We wanted a slowed down pace,” says Honawar, who splits his time between New York and Jaipur, “so that guests can soak into the feeling of Rajasthan, the feeling of Jaipur and the grandeur of the City Palace. Honawar, who is also behind Jaipur’s The Johri, has taken inspiration from the region’s idiosyncratic ingredients and recipes, shaped in turn by its extreme climate. The result is game-changing for the city.

© Kate Lough and Jaipur Johri 

When I visited, the city was in full swing. The Jaipur Literary Festival was drawing to a close, as was Jaipur Art Week. The young Maharajah, known as ‘Pacho’, is the engine behind many of Jaipur’s contemporary happenings, specifically in the arts. Under the mantle Jaipur Centre for Arts, a cultural endeavour in collaboration with art specialist Noelle Kadar, he is helping to breathe new life into Jaipur’s 18th century DNA as a hub for artistic excellence — via exhibitions, residencies and public art installations.

Inside the City Palace, the Centre's inaugural exhibition, A New Way of Seeing, celebrated both homegrown artists and those from further afield, including Anish Kapoor and Tanya Goel. Half an hour away at Jaigarh Fort, the fifth edition of Jaipur’s Sculpture Park, with the Saat Saath Arts Foundation, was a magnet for the stylish crowd with works by, among others, the New Delhi-based Subodh Gupta and Italian artist Andrea Anastasio.

Back at the Palace, the Maharajah is not the only Jaipuri royal with a modernising spirit. His sister, Princess Gauvari Jumari, opened The Palace Atelier in April 2025 alongside French designer, Claire Deroo. A living, breathing love letter to the city, the museum-come-concept store is a colourful treasure box of curiosities that celebrates homegrown craftsmanship and innovation. Inside, there are satin kurta sets, hand embroidered cushions and hot pink Nehru jackets for men.

The young Princess is also behind the PKDF Store, which empowers local women artisans by training them to create modern designs using traditional techniques, from embroidery to needlework, passed down through the generations — and offers a space for them to sell to an international audience.

Outside of the palace walls, more boutiques and brands are emerging to join the scene. Set in a 1940s bungalow, Jaipur Modern is a temple to contemporary Rajasthani brands, including Harago, the young Jaipur-born designer becoming known for his embroidered and beaded shirts that celebrate Indian craftsmanship. Visiting him in his Civil Lines showroom-come-home, I am given a preview of a new homeware collection, including chequerboard ceramics, and table linens inspired by antique Indian textiles.

At The Gem Palace, one of India’s oldest jewellery houses, one can make an appointment at The Pink Room, redesigned by Marie-Anne Oudejans in 2018. Passing master craftsmen at work in the studio, I found a new generation of Kasliwal brothers and cousins attending to clients with their signature playfulness, surrounded by priceless jewels. A short tuk tuk ride away is Narain Niwas Palace, visiting the Jaipur showroom of iconic brand Jaipur Rugs, and Hot Pink, the Kasliwal family’s joyous store where you can pick up men’s vibrant velvet jutis and pashmina scarves. The common thread in all these places being a uniquely Jaipuri style of joy, and a reverence for craftsmanship and colour.

© Jaipur Palace Atelier

Boutique hotels are also driving forces of the city’s renaissance. At the forefront are Honawar and Siddarth Kasliwal, heir to the Gem Palace. First the duo opened 28 Kothi, a primrose yellow oasis of tranquility designed by French architect Georges Floret in Civil Lines. Still hosting a large-scale installation from the Literary Festival, I fell for its home-from-home atmosphere, hand-painted murals and peaceful garden.

On the other side of town, The Johri is hidden away in the marvellous chaos of the Old City’s jewellery bazaar. A contemporary take on the local haveli, it was curated head to toe by multidisciplinary designer Naina Shah. “Jaipur is rich in history, craft and heritage — but it is also evolving,” says Shah. “The design of the Johri had to reflect this duality, so instead of preserving these crafts in a nostalgic way, I wanted to celebrate them through a more current lens.”

In the following months, ‘The Johri Bazaar’ has opened (on request), accessed through the guest-only Pukhraj Lounge. With candy-striped cotton robes or delicate crockery, it allows guests to take home a piece of the hotel’s story — one where design, history and craftsmanship meet. As I left the blush-painted blur of The Pink City, The Johri seemed a fitting microcosm for Jaipur’s evolution as a whole. As Shah added: “Heritage doesn’t have to be frozen in time, it can be lived in and enjoyed in a new way."

'A line for the eye to wander', Afra Al Dhaheri © The Sculpture Park