Jharokha
Hand-painted Jharokha frames
A jharokha is the overhanging enclosed balcony window you see on old havelis in Rajasthan and Gujarat — carved stone, arched top, a jaali screen to look out through without being seen. I make hand-painted jharokha frames as wall pieces, singly or in sets, each one painted in a different colour.
Made to order in Sector 67, Gurugram · shipped across India & worldwide
What a jharokha was for
The jharokha served two purposes at once in haveli architecture. It let air move through a room in a hot climate, and its pierced jaali screen let the women of the house watch the street without being seen from it.
The arch, the bracket supports and the lattice are all structural ideas before they are decorative ones — which is why the shape still reads as architecture even shrunk down to something that hangs on a wall.
Made as a set or a single piece
A set of six in different colours makes a grid that works as a whole wall arrangement. A single larger piece works better above a console or in a narrow stretch of wall between doors.
Each frame is painted by hand, so the floral borders and dot patterns differ slightly between pieces even in one set. That is the point of buying handmade — a printed set would be identical six times over.
Colours and arrangement
The bright multi-colour sets are the most popular, and they suit a neutral wall where the colour has room to work. If your room is already busy, a set in two or three related colours reads calmer while keeping the shape.
Tell me the wall size and I'll tell you how many pieces will fill it properly and how they should be spaced.