Homestay

Devpur Homestay

The iron nails of the arched gate step on a heaved mound and the brown-heritage tinges scatter around the surface meddling with the laid-back backdrop of Village Devpur. In earlier times, the iron spikes used to keep the elephants and the enemies shooed away from entering the premises. Village women in traditional clothes huddle in groups on the thresholds, a cow would duck in, dogs thinner than poles…. And then you enter Darbargadh. The jharokhas shine in their yellow with green tiny windows; and the more you stroll through the interiors, the Zenana and Mardana suites surpass the purple-pink of the Bougainvilleas by Lal Bunglow.

The nights are even more painted with hues. Yellow from every arch of the long balcony, on the outdoor table, and over the shared exchange of stories between the hosts and the guests. On clear days, moonlight invades the heritage walls and lets them sleep the way they have for the last 120 years.

THE HISTORICAL SIDE OF DEVPUR HOMESTAY

Roha was the largest principality, the largest jagir of Kutch, with 52 villages in five talukas. As the rightful descendants of the Roha lineage, the Jadeja family was presented with seven villages, among which Devpur had the highest significance.

Only 40 km away from Bhuj, the Capital of Kutch, the classically-ornamented Kutch-Roha architectural Darbargadh was the brainchild of Krutarthsinh’s great-great grandfather, Thakore Saheb Verisalji Bawasaheb of Roha. He surely built this manor in 1905 for his younger son, Kumar Shri Karan Sinhiji, but it stood the tides of time through the backbone of six generations into the Jadeja family, and today it serves itself as the White Eagles School and the traditional Devpur Homestay. Heritage porticos, courtyards, stucco pavilions and pillared halls – Darbargadh’s structural characteristics took three years to find a shape, with natural resources like local sandstone, limestone, lime mortar, and wood.

Later, in the aftermath of the 1956 earthquake, Captain Thakore Shri Ranjitsinhji of Devpur reconditioned some elements and added more flair to the structure.

Even further down the lane, we are possibly one of the lone survivors of the Kutch Earthquake of 2001. There’s a record of at least 85 small and big palaces, forts, and Darbargadhs in Kutch, and we thankfully survived the earthquake. The White Eagles School is an instituitional member of INTACH and the Founder Principal Thakore Shri Mahipatsinhji of Devpur the Convenor for Kutch. At present his son Krutarthsinhji is Co Convenor of INTACH. The Darbargadh was carefully restored after the earthquake and now has the Devpur Homestay.

THE HERITAGE ROOMS FOR YOUR STAY

Apart from a few rooms still inhabited by our family, the vintage rooms have the necessary warmth and comfort while retaining the liveliness of their heritage vibrations, with Mardana, Zenana, and today there’s a school operating on campus. Different and each holding onto its own characteristics, the rooms have en suite bathrooms, and living and dining areas. We have six thoughtfully-designed suites and an eco-friendly serviced Farmstay just two furlongs away nestled amongst Kesar mango trees. Four suites in Zenana and two suites in Mardana all safely within the high walled Gadh and gated Deli.