Jaisalmer: The Golden City with a Mighty Fort [Rajasthan]

Today is all fun because we are heading to Jaisalmer, the golden city and then to Sand Dunes of Rajasthan which one can never forget in his life. As usual, we will need to start early and since we stayed back at Ramdevra last time you have one more chance to visit the temple. Make sure you carry a lot of water with you, there is a fort to cover today. Here is our guide to Jaisalmer City & Fort Guide.

Jaisalmer City & Fort Guide [Rajasthan]

1. Distance/Travel Time and Time for Jaisalmer
2. Places to visit inside Jaisalmer Fort
3. Jain temple
4. Museum
5. Patwon ki Haveli
6. The War Drums
7. City View and the Tank
8. The Legendary Well
9. The Jaisalmer Fort Blueprints

1] Jaisalmer City and Fort Details

• Distance from Ramdevra – 176 km [ Jaisalmer Highway ]
• Traveling time- 3 Hours min
• Time spent- half a day
• Start Time : 9:00 Am

On the way to Jaisalmer ask the driver to show you the Amla Harvest which comes just a few kilometers before the city and its in a vast area. All the plants of Amla are covered with Green cloth to keep them away from direct sunlight.

And right after that, you will get a glimpse of the fort which looks fabulous.

2] Places which you can see inside the Jaisalmer Fort

Jaisalmer (Golden) Fort :

Jaisalmer Fort, situated on Trikuta hills, was built in 1156 by Jaisal, a Rajput ruler. This fort is one of the only living forts in India and about the quarter population of city lives inside the fort. There are many shops of handicraft items, temples and small lodges inside the fort.

It is made up of golden yellow sandstone, and it stands almost 30 meters over the city. The entry in the fort is through four gateways name as  Ganesh Pol, Suraj Pol, Akhaiyal, Hava Pol.

One part of the fort was getting repaired when we reached.  You will have to get down below the fort and take an Auto Rickshaw to arrive at the central area of the fort from where you can take a guide.

Inside the fort, there is a Museum you should visit. In the end, the guide will show you an entire map of the fort which is built on a rock using Laser and Satellite images. That’s an exact scaled map of the fort

3] Jain temple

Jaisalmer is also known for its Jain heritage. Within the wall of the golden fort, there is a group of beautiful Jain temples of 12^th and 15^th centuries AD. These temples are dedicated to Jain believers, Rikhabdev, and Sambhavnath. The Temple is gorgeous and has a lot of idols of which many are carved out of one single rock of marble.  The temple closes at 1 PM so make sure you reach before that else you will have to skip this.

4] City View and the Tank

Right after the Jain Temple, the guide will take you to give you an excellent view of the city from one of the highest point of the fort. The part we went was pretty challenging to climb up as it was slant and had small blocks of stone pointing out which were used to get up.

At this point, you will also see an old Top ( तोप) or Tank around there.

4] Museum In Jaisalmer Fort

There is a museum right beside  Patwon Ke Haveli which should not be missed. You will have to buy a ticket for it, and if you are a tourist from another country, you can rent an Audio Tour which will guide you throughout the museum. You should look around for Headset Sign with a number on it and then play the tape accordingly.

This place speaks of many aspects and culture of Jaisalmer. It has Weapons, Currency, The family tree of the kings, bows, arrows, Kings Throne, Queen’s bed and lot more which will take you through the history of this magnificent fort. We have loads of pictures from this Museum which we have talked with details here.

5] Patwon ki Haveli

The most elaborate and magnificent of all the Jaisalmer Havelis. It has exquisitely carved pillars and long corridors and chambers. One of the apartments of this 5-story high haveli is painted with beautiful murals. There are also remnants of paintings and mirror-work on of its inside walls.

Throughout the fort and the city, a typical design pattern can be seen, and below is a sample of that.

There are few exciting spots in the fort which Ashish exclusively wanted to share with you all. He was taking all the photos so here you go :

6] The War Drums

The drums which you see below were played at the time of war and emergency. The king used to come down just below from where the snap is taken and used to get ready for the war.

7] The Well

According to the guide, there is a well which Lord Krishna Dug with his Sudarshan Chakra at time of great need. Though it is no more used now, it is believed that waster is still there deep inside.

8] The Jaisalmer Fort Blueprints

And that’s the mighty Jaisalmer Fort. It’s enormous and will take at least three days to cover it completely. It’s a crowded little inside, but it’s because of shops and the lanes which you can see how narrow they are.  Next post we will talk whats inside the Museum, and there are a lot of interesting pictures, especially the currency at that time.

 

Rajasthan Trip Travel Index

• Start [ Plan, Tips, and Maps ]
• Shyam Khatu and Salasar Balaji
• Rani Sati and Karni Mata
• Bhairon Ji and Ramdevra
• The Golden City with a Mighty Fort [ Rajasthan ]
• The Amazing Museum inside Jaisalmer Fort
• Sand Dunes of Jaisalmer
• Mount Abu: Gateway to Wintery Rajasthan
• Udaipur, City of Lakes
• Nathdwara and Pushkar
• Jaipur