What does it feel like to grow up in a home that carries 13 generations of your family’s history? For Harsh Vardhan Singh Kurki, owner and current successor of WelcomHeritage Kurki Palace in Jaipur , it means growing up surrounded by stories, heirlooms and spaces that have been part of his family for generations. The family traces its direct ancestry as the 23rd lineage of Mira Bai and is descended from the Ranbanka Rathore family of Kurki Fort in Rajasthan’s Pali region.
For generations, this house has been a place where family, friends and travellers were welcomed with warmth and generosity. In an exclusive conversation with HT Lifestyle, Harsh Vardhan Singh Kurki speaks about growing up with this legacy, preserving the character of the palace and what it means to share his family home with a new generation. (Also read: Inside Holkar’s 300-year legacy: Prince Richard and Yeshwant Rao Holkar III on Rani Ahilyabai, Maheshwar and heritage ) “Opening our generational family home to guests is both a privilege and a responsibility. Today, we are extending that tradition to people from around the world,” he says.
For him, Kurki Palace is more than a heritage property. That philosophy also guided the transformation of the family residence into a heritage hotel. Rather than recreating an old-world aesthetic, the family wanted to retain what was already there. “Our approach was to treat the property as an emblem of the family first and a hotel second. For him, however, the real purpose of sharing the family home with guests goes beyond its architecture and interiors.
“For me, Kurki Palace is not simply a hotel; it is an opportunity to share a living piece of our family’s history, Rajasthan’s culture and our tradition of hospitality with a new generation,” Harsh Vardhan adds. We wanted modern hospitality standards without losing the character that makes the palace distinctly ours,” Harsh Vardhan says.
