Dungarpur is one of those Rajasthani towns that tourism forgot. Tucked into the Aravalli foothills in southern Rajasthan, about 110 km from Udaipur and close to the Gujarat border, it has no luxury heritage hotels drawing weekend crowds and no tour buses clogging the lanes. What it does have is two extraordinary palaces, a landscape dotted with Bhil tribal villages, and a pace of life that feels decades removed from the rest of India.
The Juna Mahal, the Old Palace, is the real draw. This seven-storey fortress rising above the town centre looks forbidding from outside, but the interiors are astonishing: room after room of miniature paintings, mirror work, and coloured glass that have survived remarkably intact since the 17th century. On the edge of Gaib Sagar lake, the Udai Bilas Palace mixes Rajput grandeur with Victorian flourishes, its pale stone reflecting in the water.
Beyond the town, the countryside rewards exploration. The Beneshwar shrine sits at the confluence of the Som and Mahi rivers and comes alive during the Beneshwar Fair in February, one of Rajasthan's largest tribal gatherings. The Deo Somnath temple is worth the short drive. This is Bhil heartland, and the weekly markets in surrounding villages offer a glimpse of a Rajasthan that most visitors never see.