Rajasthan is like a box of chocolates...
- Jul 31, 2016
- 5 min read
You never know what you’re going to get! So we arrived in Delhi after a very long drive and went straight to the tour office. Matt had arrived in Rishikesh with a different itinerary to us and we were understandably concerned.
Turns out Matt’s was right and due to him leaving relatively soon they’d switched things around. So the next day we left for Bikaner, there isn’t much in Bikaner, but there is a rat temple. Read it again. The RAT TEMPLE of Bikaner. The official name is Karni Mata temple and there’s two conflicting stories as to why it is holy… and full of 20,000 holy black rats.
Here’s what Wikipedia says: Legend has it that Laxman, Karni Mata's stepson (or the son of one of her storytellers), drowned in a pond in Kapil Sarovar in Kolayat Tehsil while he was attempting to drink from it. Karni Mata implored Yama, the god of death, to revive him. First refusing, Yama eventually relented, permitting Laxman and all of Karni mata's male children to be reincarnated as rats.
However, according to some local folklore a 20,000 strong army deserted a nearby battle and came running to Deshnoke (near Bikaner). Upon learning of the sin of desertion, punishable by death, Karni Mata spared their lives but turned them into rats, and offered the temple as a future place to stay. The army of soldiers expressed their gratitude and promised to serve Karni Mata evermore.
So we had to go see. Lonely Planet told me a bit about the first theory but I got it a little mixed up. Enjoy the video…
We also went for a look around the fort in Bikaner which was lovely, Matt and Greg weren’t too impressed until we got to the weapons rooms.
We were only in Bikaner for one night so headed off to Jaisalmer, also known as “The Golden City”. Jaisalmer is the last city on the Indian side of the Thar desert before it reaches Pakistan. Apparently it used to be a very rich place due to the camel trains trading gems and silks, but when the British arrived (awkward), we moved the trade to ships on the other side of India. Now the main source of income seems to be tourism which only has a four-month season because the rest of the year it can reach temperatures of 55 degrees.
The main sight to see in this little town is the thousand-year-old sandstone fort which dominates the skyline. Our tour guide, Manu, was ace and told us a lot about Jaisalmer, so prepare for some history. Though maybe take it with a pinch of salt because he also told us that the Thar desert was the third largest desert in the world. We checked. It’s the seventeenth.
(The cows here are consdiered holy because they are believed to house the hindu gods, all 33-86 million of them. No one has seemed sure of the number yet, or more that they are all very confident in their idea, but no one has the same answer yet. So the cows and bulls get everywhere and have no fear.)
People still live in this fort! I’ve never seen that before, apparently it’s pretty rare in India too. It’s made from sandstone and looks in suspiciously excellent condition for one thousand years old. There’s no cement or glue holding it together, instead, the bricks fit together like Lego bricks, which means it’s not particularly robust, which means they need to repair it a lot, which to me means there’s very little of the original fort left. This seems to happen with a lot of India’s historical sites, it’s just a different way of preserving them I suppose.
Anyway! This place was amazing. These carvings are done in sandstone and are incredibly intricate. The fort is a mixture of Hindu and Mogul carvings, Moguls only carved geometric patterns and flower designs whereas Hindus also carve figures and animals. If that sort of info is a bit boring, have a look at this picture:
These handprints are the marks of women whose husbands died. It was believed to be the woman’s fault for bringing her husband bad karma. Right. So as she was essentially cursed no one would remarry her and she wouldn’t be allowed to work, what she was expected to do was place her henna handprint on that gate, walk through the fort and thROW HERSELF ON A FIRE TO BURN ALIVE. Barbaric right? Good thing it’s a thing of the past, the last burning was in 1980. 1980. Dude. Not cool India. Once a woman got married, she would go into the house and never come out again. They weren’t to be seen by people, so they built peepholes to let them look out. This is the male side:
Aaaand the female side. Hmm.
Anyway again! The guide also explained why we had been seeing so many wedding cars in Rajasthan.
When two people want to get married here they consult a holy man who will tell them if they’re compatible. The holy man will then look at the stars to determine when is the most auspicious time for marriage and when they are allowed to tie the knot. As there is a limited time that is best for marriages everyone gets married at the same time, they invite everyone by putting all the info in a painting on their house:
The guide said 99% of marriages here are arranged marriages rather than the “love marriages” of the west, and so people in Rajasthan don’t care about love, they only want to get money. It’s all becoming so clear.
Manu pointed out these little feet on some of the stairs…
(In case you don't know, Hitler stole the swastika, in India it's a symbol of wealth and good luck.) Manu told us the feet were so the goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, would find her way into their house. Cute.
Last stop in the fort was a Hanuman Temple with a service in full swing, no cameras were allowed inside but we got a quick video.
We left the fort to have a look at a house in the downtown area of Jaisalmer which had been built for the mayor. Once outside we were sat down and told about the hard work of people in local villages, they make a meagre living selling small Ganesh statues. There was a shop just next door with an interesting well in the basement, they could also show you some of the work of the villagers and will be the only place in India where you won’t be pushed into buying things.
Ok the well sounds cool, let’s go. We head down to the basement to see this well to find it was a trap! There was no well down here, only bedsheets and an enthusiastic salesman. India. Here we go again. He showed us the "unique" pieces made from patch work, the same unique pieces we saw in Kashmir. Hm. We didn’t want to buy anything, much to the salesman’s disappointment and irritation. No pressure my arse.
We hope this meant chilled beer. We hope.
We cooled down in the hotel then drove out into the desert for a camel safari. We spent about 45 minutes walking to the sand dunes to sit and watch the sunset. That is when the heavens OPENED. Honestly, we got drenched. Everything was ruined and it was hilarious because of all the concerns we had about going into the desert, bringing rain coats wasn’t one of them.
Greg and his camel "Mildred" did not get along.
We went back to the main camp for food and could choose to sleep at camp or out in the desert. Obviously we chose the desert and headed back out on a camel cart. I always thought deserts got very cold at night, turns out I’ve been lied to! It was lovely all through the night and we never needed a blanket. We got up at 6 to a desert sunrise and drove back on the camel cart to head to Jodhpur.
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