Jaisalmer Travel Guide: The Living Fort, Havelis and the Dunes

The old city spreads below the fort on Trikuta Hill, with the havelis in its lanes and Gadisar Lake close by; the dunes, Kuldhara and the frontier memorials are a drive away.

Jaisalmer Fort (Sonar Qila)

Rawal Jaisal began the fort on Trikuta Hill in 1156, and its yellow sandstone, which seems to grow out of the sand, gave it the name Sonar Qila, the Golden Fort. It is one of six Rajasthan hill forts on UNESCO's World Heritage list, and Incredible India calls it a living fort: nearly 3,000 people live inside, among temples, shops, guesthouses and havelis. It also features in Satyajit Ray's Feluda story and film Sonar Kella. Come in the morning, when the Jain temples inside are open to visitors.

The Jain temples

Inside the fort, seven Jain temples built between the 12th and 15th centuries stand together, carved from the same yellow sandstone. The main one is dedicated to Parshvanath; the first you reach, Chandraprabhu, dates from 1509, and the carving on their pillars and ceilings follows the Dilwara style. They are open to visitors only in the morning: Incredible India lists 8 am to noon, so see them before the havelis.

Patwon ki Haveli

In a narrow street of the old city, Patwon ki Haveli is, in Rajasthan Tourism's words, among the largest and most elaborately carved of Jaisalmer's havelis. Incredible India says the merchant Guman Chand Patwa began it in 1805 and kept adding to it for his sons over some 50 years, so it is really a cluster of connected houses. Carved jharokhas cover the front, and some paintings and mirror work survive inside. Incredible India and the state's booking site both list it as open from 9 am to 5 pm.

Salim Singh ki Haveli and Nathmal ki Haveli

Two more havelis belonged to the state's prime ministers. Salim Singh ki Haveli has an arched roof resting on brackets carved as peacocks; the story goes that it once rose two storeys higher, until the ruler had them taken down so it would not rival his palace, and descendants of the first owners still live in part of it. Nathmal ki Haveli, from the 19th century, was built by two brothers working from opposite ends, so its halves mirror each other without matching exactly; two sandstone elephants guard the door.

Gadisar Lake

Gadisar is a man-made reservoir near the fort, ringed by temples, ghats and chhatris, with boats for hire on the water. After dark, a laser and water show on the lake tells the story of the city's founders, the fort and the battles fought over it. It is the natural place to end a day in the old city, and our three-day Jaisalmer package spends its first evening here.

Bada Bagh

About 6 km north of the city, Bada Bagh is a garden of royal cenotaphs: carved sandstone chhatris raised for Jaisalmer's rulers, Jai Singh II among them. Rajasthan Tourism points to its sunset views, and the chhatris look their best in the low light of late afternoon. Incredible India lists it as open from 8 am to 6 pm, so arrive with time to walk round before the light goes.

Vyas Chhatri

Vyas Chhatri, a Brahmin cremation ground of carved sandstone cenotaphs dedicated to the sage Vyasa, author of the Mahabharata, is what Rajasthan Tourism calls the city's sunset point. It looks across to the fort and over the town, and in the evening local musicians often play the algoza, a double flute. Come shortly before sunset and expect company: the spot draws a crowd every evening.

Sam Sand Dunes

Sam, about 40 km from the city, is the livelier of the two dune areas where Jaisalmer's camel safaris run: a stretch of dunes about 2 km long, with several tented camps, camel and jeep safaris and quad bikes for hire. Plan to be on the sand for sunset, or for sunrise after a night at a camp; from late afternoon the camps put on folk music, dance and puppet shows. Our Thar Desert camel safari collects you from your hotel in the afternoon for an hour or so on a camel, sunset on the dunes and dinner at a camp, or a night there.

Khuri

Khuri is a village on the outskirts of Jaisalmer surrounded by dunes, and Incredible India describes it as the quieter choice: relatively unexplored sand, a few mud houses and a local bazaar, and resort camps where a night in a tent comes with folk performances. Camel safaris run here as they do at Sam. Choose it if you want the desert with fewer people around.

Kuldhara

About 18 km from Jaisalmer, Kuldhara is a village its people abandoned in the 1800s. Legend says they left in a single night and were never traced, and no one has settled there since. Its empty houses and lanes make a short, quiet stop that adds a story to a drive into the desert, and Rajasthan Tourism notes that visitors now come from all over the world to see it.

Desert National Park

The Desert National Park spreads over some 3,000 sq km of dunes, rocky ground and salt-lake beds in Jaisalmer and Barmer districts. It is one of the last homes of the great Indian bustard, the godawan, and holds blackbuck, chinkara and desert fox; in winter it draws migrating raptors such as Himalayan and Eurasian griffon vultures and the saker falcon. If the bustard eludes you, the Government Museum in Jaisalmer has one on display.

War Museum, Longewala and Tanot

On the Jaisalmer–Jodhpur highway, the Indian Army's Jaisalmer War Museum tells the story of the 1965 war and the 1971 Battle of Longewala, with captured tanks, a Hunter aircraft flown in the battle and a film room. Further out, the Desert Corps' memorial stands at Longewala, and about 120 km from the city the Tanot Mata temple, run by a Border Security Force trust, displays shells that, as the story goes, fell around it in 1965 and never exploded. Together they make a full day.

Spend a night in the desert: a camel or jeep safari at Sam or Khuri, sunset on the dunes and a camp with folk music and dinner. Rajasthan Tourism's camping season runs from October to March. Our desert experiences in Jaisalmer include the camel safari, and our three-day Jaisalmer tour package pairs the fort and havelis with a camp night out on the Sam dunes.

For more speed, Rajasthan Tourism lists dune bashing at the Lakhmna dunes and on tracks near Sam and Khuri, quad biking along the Jaisalmer–Sam road and parasailing near Kanoi and Damodra.

In town, take a boat out on Gadisar, watch the sunset from Vyas Chhatri or Bada Bagh, and shop in Sadar Bazaar, Bhatia Bazaar and Sonaron ka Bas. Eat dal baati churma, ker sangri, pyaz ki kachori and makhania lassi, ideally at a rooftop restaurant looking over the city. The Desert Festival, three days of camel races, camel polo, puppeteers and folk dance, comes each January or February. Everything we run here is on our Jaisalmer tours and experiences page.