Bundi is a charming little town, 225 kms south of Jaipur and 36 kms north of Kota. It used to be surrounded by forests and lakes and has had human settlements for millennia, as can be seen from the numerous rock paintings to be found in the area. A new, purpose-built small museum constructed within the grounds of the Sukh Mahal palace on the shores of Jait Sagar behind Bundi was opened in June 2016.

Sukh Mahal is a delightful late 18th-century summer pavilion built by the royal architect Divan Sukhram under the supervision of Rao Raja Vishnu Singh. The writer Rudyard Kipling stayed here for a couple of nights as a very young man and fell in love with Bundi, hence it is often now referred to as 'Kipling’s Bundi'. The upstairs room of the pavilion contains some photographs of Rudyard Kipling, as an attempt at a little memorial. Remembering what he had felt like on leaving, Kipling wrote the following lines in ‘Out of India’. Published in 1895. ‘But the Englishman was grieved at heart. He had fallen in love with Boondi the beautiful, and believed that he would never again see anything half so fair.’

The modest palace looks out over the largest lotus lake in Rajasthan and the location is enchanting, particularly in the winters. A visit should be planned so that you can have a peaceful picnic in the shady gardens away from the crowds. It is important to note that you cannot visit the Government Museum without first purchasing a ticket to enter the Sukh Mahal grounds. An additional ticket has to be bought to enter the museum. It may be worth buying a composite ticket, which gives access to Sukh Mahal, Raniji-ki-Baori and the 84-pillared cenotaph (but not the Government Museum) should you wish to explore Bundi’s other treasures.

Local self-taught archaeologist and guide, O.P. Sharma, known as Kukki, first requested a museum from the chief secretary of Rajasthan in 2013 and was so insistent and determined that this small museum was indeed built. The best pieces from Bundi district are on display in Kota, Jaipur and Delhi and so the collections of sculpture, weapons and paintings are modest but the viewing experience is rewarding. There is a collection of sculptures outside the Sukh Mahal which have all been dredged out of the River Chambal at Keshoraipatan which is an ancient sacred city in Bundi district. Since a religious carving couldn’t be buried or thrown away when broken, it would be immersed in the river. Bajri or river-sand mining of river beds using flatboats is traditional at Keshoraipatan and as they bring up a sculpture, it is added to the collection at Sukh Mahal. Kukki gave some of his collection of copper axes, Acheulian hand axes and microliths to the museum. He found these during his walks over the Bundi hills over the last fifty or more years and was also responsible for alerting the academic world to the large presence of ancient rock painted sites in Hadoti.

Things to note:
1) The location of the Museum is private and tranquil and worth a visit just to enjoy the lake. The Museum appears to have no staff other than a couple of Home Guards. The Superintendent at Kota has additional charge for Bundi but rarely visits.
2) There is a collection of sculptures outside the Sukh Mahal which have all been dredged out of the river Chambal at Keshoraipatan which is an ancient sacred city in Bundi district. Since a religious carving couldn’t be buried or thrown away, when broken it would be immersed in the river. Bajri mining of river beds using flat boats is traditional at Keshoraipatan and as they bring up a sculpture, it is added to the collection at Sukh Mahal.
3) It is recommended to buy a composite ticket and make the effort to find the 84-pillared cenotaph which is now hidden from the main road. Raja Rao Anirudh Singh built this beautiful monument in memory of his dhai bai, that is to say the son of his wet nurse with whom he was reared and who was treated as part of the Royal Family. There are carvings of the famous Bundi elephants on the friezes around the monument as well as other animals and religious themes. It is set in a secluded and peaceful garden.