Tour De Royals : Jaisalmer , the golden city

- December 29, 2014

After Kumbhalgarh our next destination was the desert city of jaisalmer also called as the golden city because of the color of the desert.

From kumbhalgarh there are two possible routes to jaisalmer, one via Jodhpur which is the usual route for travelers and the other via Barmer, the one less travelled. We decided to take the second route as it would give us a great opportunity to visit remote locations in Rajasthan and we would be able to complete the full circle that way and not travel the same route again.

Jaisalmer is about 435 kms from Kumbhalgarh (495 kms via Jodhpur), the state highway descends from Aravali hills to the dusty planes of Ahore and Marble hills of Jalore. The landscape drastically changes once you cross Ranakpur, the variety of plants reduced to thorny bushes and cactuses, the only rise from the ground level is because of the sandstone and marble hills. The area from Jalore to Barmer is famous for its marble production. The desert is source of the rare fossil stones and has abundance of sand stone and lime stone. All most all the houses in this region are made from these locally available rocks and hence the golden color.

After 10 hrs of drive we managed to reach jaisalmer and had the first site of the Jaisalmer fort illuminated by the golden light.

Next morning we decided to hire a local city tour guide to walk us through the main attractions i.e the fort and old havelies. The government authorized guides charge 500rs and are generally well informed about the city.

Jaisalmer , the city is named after its ruler Maharaj Jaisal and the word “Mer” means the hill , fort is about 900 years old and is also called as Sonar Qila or Trikut Fort ( because of the triangular shape of the hill its built on ).

The local folklore is that when Alauddin Khilji attached the city its rulers were left homeless and were given refuge by the Brahmins living on the trikut hill, later on the rulers created fort on this hill and named it as Jaisalmer.

This fort is only the second living fort in India after chittorgarh, the population living on this fort is about 4500. Like all the other forts this one also has separate palace for king and the queens, the carving and art work on the sandstone is extremely delicate and beautiful.

Fort has 99 bastions (in memory of 99 village chieftains) and a three layered protective wall, fort also offers the magnificent view of the city from cannon point and the kings palace terrace.

Sonar quila at night

City view from the cannon point

From the entrance

Just 5 minutes walk from the fort is the old haveli of Salam singh, the finance office of the king, the art work of this haveli is extremely beautiful but now it’s closed for public visit.

Locals say the haveli used to be 7 floors tall and was of the same height as the fort, this boosted the ego of financial officer and he started thinking himself as equal to the king. King one day invited the officer and his family for a dinner, and while they were dinning together orders the demolition of 6 floors of the haveli by cannon.

Haveli entrance

Desert Camping

Desert camping is most sought after event in jaisalmer but I found it very overpriced and not worth the penny. Even though we ended up paying 10k for a tent, my sincere advice would be to avoid it as much as possible. It’s just a marketing and money making strategy. Most of the camps claim the desert camping experience among the sand dunes but in reality the sand dunes are few kms away from the actual camp site and one ends up camping besides the highway.

Jeep safari, even though was fun ride and something unique is not worth the penny spent.

Kuldhara: The abandoned village

About 30 kms from the Jaisalmer is the abandoned (even claimed haunted) village of Kuldhara. This village was once out of 84 Brahmin habited villages in Jaisalmer state. It is said the Salam Singh, the financial office and tax collector of the king fell in love with one of the Brahmin girl from this village. Being from different cast the Brahmin parents and the girl refused to marry Salam Singh, but the bureaucrat was adamant and announced the day he would get married forcefully to the girl. The day before the announced date all the 84 Brahmin villages came together and flew out of the jaisalmer state with their belongings. As the time went people from 83 villages came back but villagers from this one village, Kuldhara never returned back the abandoned village remains silent witness of that past.

The village has 100-200 abandoned houses, most of them reduced to mere walls and rubble however two houses close to the village temple are still in good shape and provide excellent photo opportunity. From their size and artwork they seem to be of village chief or the temple priest.

The village must have been well planned as the roads are broad and houses are arranged in disciplined manner.

Government has also tried to create a cactus park near this village but currently it is as abandoned as the village.