Ramgarh Bunglows
From May to September the orchards by Writers' and Old Bungalows hang heavy with apricots, plums, peaches, pears and apples. Many writers and thinkers were drawn to the beauty of Ramgarh:

Sri Aurobindo and Narain Swami established ashrams; Rabindranath Tagore wrote some of his major work - even contemplating founding Shantiniketan here;

Mahadevi Verma made it her home and some of India's leading industrial families have sprawling orchards. Ramgarh makes and ideal base for long walks or drives to discover the surrounding areas of Mukteshwar, Bhimtal, Almora, or even for golfing at Nainital and Ranikhet.

Piramal Haveli, Bagar
Shekhavati was made into and independent kingdom in 1471 by Rao Shekha (1433-1488), till 1738 when it reverted back to the Jaipur State. This region of the painted havelis (mansions) of the Marwaris, the trading community of Rajasthan who from 1820 onwards, migrated to the ports of Calcutta and Bombay, amassed huge fortunes, and control virtually every sector of the modern Indian economy.

Among the grandest of their traditional homes, the Piramal Haveli in Bagar, Shekhavati, has traditional courtyards enclosed by colonial pillared corridors. Frescoes of flying angels and gods in motor cars adorn the walls. Serving the famed local vegetarian cuisine, it was the home of Seth Piramal Chaturbhuj Makharia (1892-1958) whose fortune was made in Bombay, trading cotton, opium, silver and other commodities.

The Mud Fort, Kuchesar
The MUD FORT KUCHESAR tells of the chequered history of the jats who vied with the Sikhs, Marathsa, Rohillas, Rajputs, French adventurers and the East India Company to fill the vacuum of the declining Mughal power. By the 1740’s the Jats had become a first rate military power.

The Jat rulers of Kuchesar, who hail from Mandoti in Harayana built their mud – fort somewhere in the mid 18th century. In 1763, the Jat fort of Kuchesar was captured and razed. By 1782, it was recovered and has remained with the family, which was granted a perpetual lease in 1790 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam and then by the British in 1807. The Fort was surrounded by a wide moat dug to create ramparts.

The banks of Brijghat, 24kms away on the Holy Ganges make an interesting picnic outing among fields of sugarcane and mango orchards. Only 80kms from New Delhi Kuchesar is an effortless drive from the stress and crowding capital.