Entries about jaisalmer

All of us have had an encounter with a ghost or heard an eerie ghost story. The village of Kuldhara is a ghost village that has been abandoned since 1800s. It is said to carry a curse of the villagers who migrated to other places.

Kuldhara lies about 15 Km west of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan(India).No one lives in Kuldhara, as it is are believed to be cursed. The village now lies in ruins. The first sight of Kuldhara village sends one imagination running to the time it may have been inhabited.

According to folklore, Salim Singh, the minister of the state, once visiting this village fell for the beautiful daughter of chieftain (Paliwal Brahmin) and wanted to marry her. The minister threatened the villagers that if they did not marry the girl to him, he would levy huge taxes. The chief of the village with those of other 83 adjoining villages decided to abandon and migrate elsewhere as against marrying the girl to Salim Singh. Nobody saw them leave nor did anyone figure where they went, they simply vanished.

Tanot is a place located at a distance of 120 Km from Jaisalmer and name Tanot is named on goddess Tanot. One major town Ramgarh falling in between. After Ramgarh, are miles and miles of nothingness and empty sand dunes. The village is close to the border with Pakistan, and is very close to the battle site of Longewala of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

The area has a high average windspeed and as such there are now a large number of wind-based renewable energy projects in the area. The temperatures in the area can go up to 49 °C.

Ranau Village : It appeared suddenly in middle of nowhere surrounded by virgin sandunes.

It is said that during the Indo-Pakistani War, Pakistani Army dropped several bombs targeting the temple but none of the bombs could fall on the temple and large number of the bombs in the vicinity of the temple did not explode.The temple has a collection of the unexploded bombs dropped by Pakistan. The temple has also been shown in Bollywood movie Border.

Bada Bagh, also called Barabagh (literally Big Garden) is a garden complex about 6 km north of Jaisalmer. It contains a set of royal cenotaphs, or chhatris of Maharajas of Jaisalmer state.

In the 16th century, Maharaj Jai Singh II commissioned a dam to create a lake in this harsh desert region. After his death, his son Lunkaran built a beautiful garden and a cenotaph in his memory.

Bada Bagh, whose name literally means "Great Garden", was the place to be cremated and symbolically buried the former Maharajas of Jaisalmer.

One of the most popular attractions for tourists visiting Jaisalmer, Bada Bagh is attending to contemplate, apparently, beautiful sunset.

Location: In the outskirts of Jaisalmer, 42 Km from the main city.

Sam sand dunes are becoming the major attraction in Jaisalmer. This is the closest place from where you can loose yourself in 'the Great Thar Desert'.

Sam has a truly magnificent stretch of sweeping dunes, with sparse or no vegetation. The best way to get here, of course, is on camelback.

The Jaisalmer Fort is one of the largest fortifications in the world in the state of Rajasthan. It is a World Heritage Site. It was built in 1156 AD by the Rajput ruler Rawal Jaisal, from whom it derives its name.

Its massive yellow sandstone walls are a tawny lion colour during the day, fading to honey-gold as the sun sets, thereby camouflaging the fort in the yellow desert.

The fort has numerous eateries, including Italian, French, and Indian cuisines. It offers a unique shopping experience to its visitors. The narrow bazaar lanes are lined up with shops on both sides, offering a wide range of items including irresistibly beautiful handicraft items. Puppets and joothies are other popular items. You can also shop for a host of other items, which include textile, camel leather items, woven jackets, wooden boxes and ornaments.

A number of traditional Rajasthani handicrafts are available in Jaisalmer Fort . Jaisalmer is famous for embroidery, Rajasthani mirror work, rugs, blankets, antiques and old stonework.

It is also the only ‘Living Fort’ in the country. The fort is host to over 1000 families whose forefathers have been settled there by the Kings (Maharawals of the Bhati clan of Rajputs) some eight centuries ago and continue to live in the ancestral houses on the original streets and Paras.

A Bhaang Shop is near the gate of Jaisalmer fort, where Bhaang is available in the form of biscuits and milk mixed variety. The biscuits cost about 80 rupees. The milk bottle costs about rupees 360.