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ECO-FRIENDLY
LIVING AT SAVISTA
Set in its own fields and groves, and
surrounded by rolling cropland interspersed with sand
dunes and ravines, the countryside setting of Savista on
the outskirts of Jaipur city provides a soothing
integration of desert landscape, greenery, clear blue
skies by day, and a star-lit canopy by night.
Around
the rustic elegance of the 12-acre Savista estate and cozy
comfort of the haveli (mansion) complete with its
modern appointments, rural India plays itself out. Guests
have the unique opportunity to come up close to simple
people's lives and work. This is an everyday India that
city hotels never give you a peep into
At least half the energy requirements at
Savista - for heating and cooling of rooms and water - are
met from solar powered energy systems. Much of the cooking
is done using locally available natural fuels and solar
cookers.
Most of the
furniture at Savista is made out of rubber wood, and other
locally available renewable sources. Savista itself was built using local materials,
traditional eco-friendly methods of construction, and the
expertise and labour of local masons and carpenters. In
place of steel and cement, our rooftop slabs are made of
stone. These are then insulated through the unique method
adopted in the construction of the region's old forts and
palaces: hand-made tiny bricks laid vertically in circles
within a bed of sand, and then plastered over with
hand-ground limestone. This serves to temper the effect of
extremes of heat and cold. We were lucky to find and
rehabilitate the last of the two families whose hereditary
specialization is the production and preparation of these
materials.
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