The Peacock Door, Heritage Hotel, Madurai, India

We stayed at some beautiful hotels while we were in Southern India, and the Heritage Hotel in Madurai is one of them. It had this spectacular carved door in the lobby. n the late 1700s, when the Royal family of mayurs, moved to a large palace near Baripada, in the present day Mayurbhanj district of Orissa, they demolished the fort that they had occupied for over 75 years, to prevent its misuse by invaders. "Mayur Dwaar" the Peacock Door, which stood as the imposing entrance to the fort, was carried with them to their new palace and stored as a symbol of the might and heritage of the Mayur dynasty. With the unification, through marriage, of the Mayur and Bhanja dynasties, to form the Kingdom of Mayurbhanj in Northern Orissa, and their subsequent shift to the Present Mayurbhanj palace, the "Mayur Dwaar" lost its prominence and found its way to an Armenian trader in Calcutta, where it remained. The family migrated to USA in 1945 and left the "Mayur Dwaar" and other antiques, in the care of Mr. S.R. Bose, the last magager of the Armenian Firm. The Present owners procured it from Mr. Bose, with consent from the Armenian family. The door is elaborately carved, with the Mayur (Peacock) motif visually dominant. Though it has a strong Rajasthani influence, and is a typical fort door of that era, its uniqueness lies in the exquisite details of the outer frame, and the head work, with the 2 alcoves originally used for lamps. The wood seems to have been specially treated, and has withstood the ravages of time remarkably well.