Bright yellow colored ornate buildings engilding like gold
with every ray of sun; beautiful veiled women wearing bright red ghagras, noticeably large nose rings and
white bangles and humming ghoomar
while passing by; men with handlebar mustache and kesariya pagdi dillydallying under the shade of a tree; and a sea,
a sea of unconfined serene sand, located in close proximity. That’s Jaisalmer for
you. It looks as if someone has fueled life into “Incredible India” picture I
have been seeing since childhood.
I reached Jaisalmer from jodhpur via train at around 6.30 in
the morning. I had already contacted Titanic Hotel owner, Mr. Polu, beforehand
and he had sent a vehicle to pick me up at station. He offered me room at 200/-
per day with the pick up being complementary. I was pleasantly surprised with
the rates as the hotel room was pretty decent and definitely much better than
what I got in Jaipur (600/- a day). For any backpacker who is having a trip on
a shoestring budget, Titanic hotel is a great option.
Chapter 1: The Golden
Fort
I took the bath and went to see Jaisalmer fort, or Golden
fort, or Sonar Quila, which was at the walking distance from my hotel. This
fort, unlike other forts in Rajasthan (except Chittaurgarh) is a living fort.
People stay inside the fort as they used to during earlier days. Jaisalmer is
named after Maharawal Jaisal Singh, a Bhati Rajput king who founded the city
on 1156 AD. This fort, built on Trikoota hill by Maharawal Jaisal, is constructed
completely from yellow sandstone and shines with resplendent golden color when
sun light falls on it. Because of lack of water in this area, the stones are
not joined by mortar, rather an interlocking system was used which saved lots
of water. Grove was formed on one stone and other stone was fitted firmly
inside it. There are 4 “prols” or
gates inside this fort.
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| Palace for royal women within the fort |
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| Sonar Quila - a living fort |
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| Left: Interlocking of stones used in construction ; Right: Wooden ceilings in fort for keeping the fort cool |
There are 7 Jain temples inside the fort which was built by
rich Jain merchants between 12th to 15th century. This
jain temple houses 6666 statues of Jain tirthankars. The significance of 6666
is that 6+6+6+6 is equal to 24 which is also the total number of Jain tirthankars.
At the entrance of the temple itself one can see fossil stone, which according
to an age old tradition is believed to keep away negative spirits. This is the
reason why one can find fossil stones in various Indian monuments. There are 3
prominent types of stones found in Jaisalmer – yellow sandstone, limestone and fossil
stone. The abundance of fossil stones in Jaisalmer gives strength to a popular
belief that once Jaisalmer was completely inside sea and then sea dried
exposing the arid land.
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| Jain temple |
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| Exquisite carvings in Jain temple |
Chapter 2: Kuldhara –
the haunted village
It was a bit hot that day and I was feeling very sticky with
sweat after fort visit. So I took bath, carried necessary items for the
overnight stay in desert and reached the office of Sahara travels sharp at 3. The
jeep to take us was stationed there and within minutes of my arrival, the group
of French folks arrived. They were a group of 3 guys and a girl. We greeted
each other, shared pleasantries and kicked off our tour on a jeep.
Our first stop was a haunted village known as Kukdhara
village. The folklore says that some 300 years ago Paliwal brahmins used to
dwell here. The prime minister of king, Salim Singh, fell in love with daughter of the village head.
He asked them to either give her hand or leave the place. Brahmins being too
rigid when it comes to inter-caste marriage refused to be subjugated. It is said
that some 84 villages got vacated in one night. But before they left their villages, they put a curse here that no will be able to inhabit this place once again. To this day, Kuldhara village has remained as it is, the way it was left. People trying to stay here have been chased away by paranormal activities and have reported hearing wails
of children and women leaving their houses.
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| The abandoned, ghostly Kuldhara |
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| Top: Ruins of Kuldhara; Bottom: Govt. renovated portion of Kuldhara for tourists |
Chapter 3 : The ethereal Camel Safari
By this time we had started to get hint of desert. The long trees
had given way to small thorny shrubs, the houses on other side of the roads had
dwindled, the air now had the coarseness, a seldom gush of sand would come and
fill the eyes prompting you to wear your sunglasses. And amidst all these, our
jeep was speeding on a tortuous road leaving civilization in its wake.
It was 4.30 when we reached a small village called Barna,
where our next mode of transportation was awaiting our arrival. Yeah 6 camels
were waiting for us (1 extra camel as a contingency plan).
There were 2 porters accompanying us – Kalu and Shambhu. Our
jeep driver, Manu, along with another guy, Sawai, took the jeep with him to
meet us at the camping location. We hopped on the camel back with our backpacks
hooked to the saddle, a bottle of water in hand and
sunglasses to protect the eyes from the sand and sun. We were all set to venture into
one of the most beautiful voyage of our life.
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| My Safari buddies |
Riding camel is fun. Camels, unlike horses, are chill. They
don’t spook and cannot care any less about what is riding on their back. They
know their route and follow the one in front of them.
Initially when we started, there were plain fields dotted
with green shrubs, thanks to the rain that had happened a few days ago. This
gave way to fresh tilled lands where farmers would grow millets, staple food of
Rajasthan. There were also glimpses of sheep and cows grazing the land. One
could see some brown mud huts with thatched roofs pockmarking the yellow
surrounding with some green grasses and grey thorny shrubs adding some extra
hue to the canvas. And then there were sand dunes, the never ending sea of
sand. My ride was a potpourri of landscapes this beautiful planet has to offer.
When we were about to reach our camping location, Kalu and Shambhu started collecting some dried wood for fire. I squinted my eyes and
looked at infinity. I saw amidst huge mighty sand dunes, there was a jeep
parked and a thatched hut nearby. There were few green shrubs nearby for the
camels to make merry. It was our jeep. Manu and Sawai had arrived and were
making arrangements for us.
Getting down from the camel was such a relief. My legs had gone
sore with its wide hump. It was an amazing view from the top of the sand dunes.
There were just 9 of us (5 tourists and 4 porters). Sawai and Manu prepared
masala tea for us using the wood that the other two porters had collected. The
tea was accompanied with finger chips. It was a welcome surprise J. I had a “chai pe charcha”
with my fellow safari buddies and came to know a bit about them. They were from
France and were in Jaipur for 3 months working for an NGO.
Sun was about to set and I went on a walk. Thar had an
apollonian ambiance disturbed only occasionally by cud chews of camels. It was
an experience in itself lying on sand under clear reddish sky and watching the
sun drowning in the yellow sea in front of me.
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| Strolling through the unconfined, silent, yet majestic sand dunes |
By the time, I came back, the guys had started to prepare
dinner for us. All of us sat together near the fire and had some discussions. I
came to know a bit about Shambhu, Kalu and Manu. Despite being poor, they lived
happily and what really impressed me was the importance they gave to educate
their children. The travel agency had arranged for some beer for us. At around
9, we were served our dinner along with beer. Yeah, the French guys preferred
beer with their dinner; I nodded. The food was delicious; there was rice, dal,
sabzi and roti along with beer J.
Once everybody was done with dinner, all the 4 helper guys
settled in front of us with their “musical instruments” – water canister and
steel plates. They sung a few folk songs for us. I also sang a few songs. This
carried on for almost an hour and then our beds were made with home made
mattresses and duvets.
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| Kalu, Shambhu, Manu and Sawai in action |
I must say, sleeping under the sky in a desert is a life
altering experience. I have never been so close to mother nature before. Gazing
night sky trying hard to locate some constellations, feeling the chill of sand
from below, a cold nocturnal breeze ruffling your hair and filling your ears
and eyes with sand. The moon was playing hide and seek with clouds and finally
left leaving me with my thoughts, cleaning my grime knotted emotions.
I woke up early in the morning to see sunrise but the sky
was cloudy and there was no sun to be seen. I pulled back my duvet and slept
once again. When I woke up again, I saw Sawai preparing tea for us. Every sip
of that hot tea was a mysterious panacea for my cold interior that spruced me
up. We then came to know that our camels had also gone for a walk; we were not
the only one who enjoyed strolling through the desert. I accompanied Shambhu and
Kalu who went on a search for the camels. It was really amazing to see how they
trace the footsteps of the camel and locate them. Finally we came back after an
hour with camels. By that time Sawai had prepared porridge and roasted bread
for us. We ate bread, jam and porridge and got prepared for the return journey.
We once again packed our bags, put it on camels and returned
to Barna at around 10 AM where Manu was waiting with his jeep.
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| The last one together |
Chapter 4 : Patwon ki
haveli and adieu Jaisalmer
I came back to hotel at around 11.30 AM, took my bath and
checked out at 1.30 PM. Mr. Polu was kind enough not to charge me for an extra
day as their check out time was 10. I went to Gopa chowk near Jaisalmer fort,
ate my lunch and walked my way to Patwon ki haveli. There are 5 havelis built
by Guman Chand Patwa, an insanely rich Jain merchant, for his 5 sons. These
havelis are beautifully sculpted. Each and every piece of stone has been meticulously
worked on. The lavishness of these havelis are evident from the fact that
Patwas used to loan money to kings and kingdoms, not just normal people.
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| Patwon ki haveli |
There were a few places left to visit in Jaisalmer but I
neither had the interest nor energy to do that. So, I headed to railway station
to travel back to New Delhi.
Jaisalmer is a proud sentinel in the history of Rajasthan,
rather it shines brightest among all with its well preserved heritage. The
“Golden city” not only has colossal Jaisalmer fort but also has Patwon ki
haveli which is a poetry on stones. It not only has limitless monochrome sand dunes
but is also punctuated by bright flashes of colors- be it clothes, paintings or
interiors of havelis. Jaisalmer, you are one hell of a beauty !!
