Bookmark Resort Jogi Mahal, in Rajasthan, is the perfect place to chill after an exciting game drive in tiger country in India.
He lay in the thicket, a lithe 9 ft-vision of striped glory, exuding a sense of leashed power. The Royal Bengal Tiger gazed disdainfully at the tourists and paparazzi seated in safari jeeps; his tawny eyes were the colour of a bruised sun. Shutters clicked as long lenses trained on the feline and disturbed the big cat’s down time. He uncurled his mighty body and slunk away into the forest.
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While Ranthambore National Park, located in India’s north-western state of Rajasthan, is the lush, scenic stamping grounds of the big cat and where dream-like wildlife sightings are the norm, Bookmark Resorts, Jogi Mahal, located in close proximity to the park, is a lux restful interlude after magical game drives.
Bookmark Resort Jogi Mahal is enhanced with touches that are evocative of its location and are a nod to the aesthetics of the past, the frontage echoes the royal vernacular of jharokhas (small overhanging stone balconies) and chhatris (decorative pavilions) atop the facade.
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Indeed, this is a stylish sanctuary with the bristling-with-wildlife jungle and the big cat playing the muse. Jungle murals and curated artworks adorn the minimalist lobby while checkerboard patterns of black granite and white marble on the floor of public spaces echo the stone work that the region is known for. The Olympic-sized swimming pool is built in the style of the step wells of 7th to 19th century western India, when intricately carved stepwells or water reservoirs were built in the days of yore with steps descending to the water level.
The 40 rooms are located in ten villas clustered around an expansive amphitheatre-style lawn. Located along a paved pathway, the ground plus one-storey villas house spacious Luxury Rooms, done in a muted colour palette. The interiors have a breezy flow and come with a private sitting area near a picture window for one’s morning cuppa. The walk-in dressing area, swish toiletries, luxurious linens, textured fabrics and glass-fronted indoor and alfresco showers make for contemplative scenic respites after an eventful game drive, while the private heated plunge pool with viewing deck and lounger is ideal for a spot of birdwatching.
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The upper-level Premium Rooms in the villas come with engaging views of the wilderness and humped mountains but do not have private plunge pools.
Jogi Mahal straddles multiple worlds and aims to be a wellness-cum-wildlife retreat, where guests can offer up their travel-and-safari-weary bodies to healing ministrations at the Sancha Spa so that a vacation becomes a sensual journey. A shrine to well-being, the understated spa comes with three therapy rooms (two single and one for a couple) and entices with an expansive menu of therapies varying from Indonesian, Swedish, Arabian, Thai to Indian Ayurvedic massages, wraps and body polishes.
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Post safaris, guests may attend a pottery class with a local potter who teaches aspirants how to swirl and shape clay on a potter’s wheel. On another evening, there is an option to star gaze with a large, portable hi-definition telescope set up on the expansive lawns. An expert helps to locate the Pole Star, train one’s sights on Jupiter’s 96 moons in an unpolluted star-veined sky and dishes out interesting factoids like the “rings of Saturn will disappear from view in 2025 and reappear in the early 2030s.” Come evening, the amphitheatre comes ablaze with local dancers who showcase their fancy footwork and lissom moves to guests prior to dinner.
When it comes to entertaining and coddling guests, this haven of self-indulgence pulls out all the stops. Bookmark Resort Jogi Mahal’s Baradari restaurant, with its chevron pattern flooring and wood accents, is the perfect backdrop for its artistically plated global fare, bounteous breakfasts and its munificent Rajasthani thalis. The thalis comprise an array of local delicacies in small shiny brass bowls placed on matching platters and enable one to channel Rajasthan via one’s taste buds. A bar tempts with libations from around the world.
However, the most powerful lure is the Royal Bengal Tiger that prowls in this most scenic of India’s national parks. The park was once the former hunting grounds of the maharajas of Jaipur and is dotted with royal ruins where the felines often pad up for a siesta and other wildlife hang out at its limpid water bodies to sate their thirst. A majestic fort rises from a hillock and looks down on the wilderness like a mighty raptor.
The last legal tiger hunt that forest guides still recall with awe was the one organised in 1961 for visitors Queen Elizabth II and Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who were personal friends of the maharaja!
Thanks to Ranthambore’s regal past, royal pampering comes easy at Jogi Mahal.
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