Beyond the sand dunes - Main places to visit and things to do in Rajasthan state of India

Here we have mostly shared our own experiences from individual trips to different places in India and Abroad, but recently some of our foreigner friends/followers have started sharing queries about planning trips in India. One of the fellow Travel Photographer from France wrote to share about places to be explored in Rajasthan. I know it's a difficult task, but here we are trying to list down some of the popular places and regions which would offer some great experiences & subjects to capture. The palaces of Jaipur and Ajmer/Pushkar, lakes of Udaipur, the desert forts of Jodhpur, Havelis of Shekhawati & Mandawa and sand dunes of Jaisalmer - all of them are unavoidable for real explorers and travellers.

Rajasthan, which is also known as colorful state of India, is one of the most popular states amongst Indian and Foreigner tourists. Tourism in Rajasthan state is becoming more popular with each pasing day. The state is rich in terms of culture, heritage, history, food and lot more.

Jaipur -

Capital city of Rajasthan State of India is a must visit place, if you are planning s trip to colorful state of the nation. Jaipur has some of the beautiful architectures in form of forts, castles, havelis. The city is named after ruler of Amer fort, Jay Singh. Jaipur is also known as Pink city. All the buildings in Jaipur are painted with pink. Jaipur , the Pink City, is noted for the ancient houses made of a type of sand stone dominated by a pink hue.

Some of the interesting places to visit in Jaipur city are - Amer Fort, Jal Mahal, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Sawai Man Singh Museum, Bapu Bazar, Birla Temple, Chokhi Dhani etc. Jaipur is a one of the major tourist destination in India. In Conde Nast Traveller Readers Choice Survey 2008, Jaipur was ranked the 7th best place to visit in Asia .As per TripAdvisor's 2015 Traveller's Choice Awards for Destination, Jaipur ranked 1st among the Indian destination for the year. Planning a trip to Jaipur from Delhi is super easy and hence it's also one of the popular weekend destinations around Delhi, especially in winters.

Rajasthan state is famous for its forts, carved temples and decorated havelis of huge sizes, which were built by Rajput kings in pre-Muslim era Rajasthan. Jantar Mantar, Dilwara Temples, Chittorgarh Fort , Lake Palace , miniature paintings in Bundi and numerous city palaces and havelis are part of the architectural heritage of India.

Jaisalmer -

Whenever we think about desert and beautiful Jaisalmer comes to our mind. Most of the photographs of camel rides in sand dunes are clicked around beautiful Jaisalmer. If you are looking for some of the unique experiences of desert safari, camping in sand dunes and watching star trails, Jaisalmer is the place for such exceptional experiences. Jaisalmer has many artistic structures and monuments of local historical importance. Medieval mud fortress of Jaisalmer and walled township make it a popular tourist destination. Prices range wildly and one has to bargain for everything, hotel rates included. Jaisalmer is comparatively costly town and if you plan to do shopping, there is high scope of negotiation.

While in Rajasthan and around desert area, it's a must do thing to visit these Deserts & explore a very different type of experience. The Excitement level increases if we plan to have bonfire in the desert under star studded sky. This time 'Malji Ka Kamra' team organized bonfire for us in Desert of Churu. It was one of the most exciting part of our weekend trip to Churu. This Photo Journey shares some of the photographs shot in the desert during Bonfire and some incidents we came across.Many times I planned weekend trips to Rajasthan from Delhi but this was first time when we were in an area surrounded by Deserts. So this weekend trip was quite special for us. During the trip we were staying at 'Malji Ka Kamara' and they arranged this bonfire for us in Desert. The very first experience was driving on Desert and the way SUVs were slipping on sand. We started in 3 cars from Haveli and on the way everyone fit into the SUVs we had. We went ahead on these SUVs as normal cars can't be driven on sand.Whole Gang of Writers and Bloggers was excited to have fun in Desert. All arrangements were already done before we hit the Desert for Bonfire. When we reached, we had to climb up to reach the main place, where lighting & seating arrangements were done. Chef was ready with some Scrumptious snacks. While we were settling there, few folks started setting up the cameras on tripods to shoot stars, star-trails and desert lit with moonlight. Few of us were very focused to keep track of shooting stars.Desert Bonfires in Rajasthan are very popular during the month of December. Many of the tourists hit Rajasthan to celebrate Christmas and New Year in Desert camps. Desert Bonfire on Christmas eve sounds very exciting. And this is what comes to my mind when I think about this - Jingles on Guitar, Cake with Wine and gifts for each other. Bonfire in Desert can bring lot of excitement and craziness. On the same lines, New Year Eve in Desert around bonfire can be very special with friends and family. With time, cost of celebrations of New Year have increased a lot i cities and a Desert Bonfire with friends can be a brilliant option with much lesser cost and a private affair.The sad part of the bonfire was unavailability of drinks in Desert. Malji Team had only beer to offer and many of us couldn't have anything else. I opted for beer and found it very different. I never had such strong beer before. Hope that other guests at Malji Ka Kamara ensure that they arrange drinks themselves or request the team to arrange variety of stuff while in desert. We would have loved to have some options in drinks to enjoy the Desert bonfire better with star studded sky and very frequent shooting stars.Suddenly everyone started noticing the silence of desert and the discussion lead to ghost stories. Now ladies wanted to act like ghosts in the desert. At least they wanted to have some posed photographs in desert by giving some evil impressions. Priyanka lead this shoot and everyone else joined the gang. This was the time, when I got up from my seat and started clicking photographs of these folks. Before that I was feeling lazy and enjoying the beer at Desert Bonfire. Are these stars in above photograph? What do you think?It was time when people wanted there special photographs. It was a real challenge for me because of very low light and didn't want to use flash. So above photograph tells about the process we followed to click various photographs you see in this Photo JourneyBefore visiting Churu, whenever I heard of 'Desert Bonfire', it was mostly about Jaisalmer or Jodhpur in Rajasthan state of India or Saudi. Few of my friends had great time in Jaisalmer, when they stayed in sand dunes and spent most of their time around Deserts only. Hopefully I will plan a trip to Jaisalmer soon.It was an amazing experience of bonfire in Desert. With time, it was getting very cold in the desert and we planned to move back to the Haveli (Malji Ka Kamara) at around 11:30pm. There were lot of things in our To-Do list for next day. We had dinner at the hotel and moved to our rooms to take rest and start the new day with a city tour of Ramgarh.

Udaipur -

Udaipur is historic capital of Mewar in former Rajputana Agency. Maharaja Udai Singh founded this city. Udaipur is also known as ‘Venice of the East’ or ‘Lake City’ or ‘City of Lakes’. Udaipur is again internationally popular tourist destination because of it’s history, culture, scenic locations, old palaces and lakes. Tourism, local handicraft, metal & mineral industries and agriculture are some of the main components of Udaipur’s economy. Some of the popular places to explore in Udaipur include - City Palace, Lake Palace, Jag Mandir, Monsoon Palace, Jagdish Temple, Fateh Sagar Lake, Sukhadia circle, Saheliyon ki Bari, Lake Pichola.

Jodhpur -

Jodhpur is a popular tourist featuring many palaces, forts and temples around Thar Desert. Jodhpur used to be the capital of Marwar kingdom. Some of the most popular places to explore in Jodhpur include - Mehrangarh Fort, Umaid Bhawan Palace , Jaswant Thada , Ghanta Ghar (Clock Tower), Mandore , Kaylana Lake & Gardens , Balsamand Lake Mahadev Temple (Mandalnath), Ratanada Ganesh Temple, Sardar Samand Lake and Palace, Veer Durgadas Smarak, (monument, park and museum), Bhim Bhirak Caves. Jodhpur is also very popular amongst bollywood folks. Plenty of bollywood movies are shot in Jodhpur.

When we were in Churu town of Rajasthan, we also planned to visit a shop of lacquer bangles and witnessed the process of making bangles out of lacquer, which is also known as ladh or lakh. This Photo Journey shares some of the photographs and videos created during the visit to the lacquer bangle shop.Bangles are traditional ornaments which are worn mostly by women in India. Usually glass bangles are used by women in northern India and occasionally some fashionable bangles are used, which can be made up of lacquer. Bangles also have a very traditional value in Hinduism and are considered inauspicious to be bare armed for a married woman.Lacquer bangles are very popular in Rajasthan and Haryana states of India.After a round of Havelis in Ramgarh, we came to Churu Market to do some shopping and mainly for buying some lacquer bangles. This was an intersting shop where a bangle artist was making bangles from lacquer by giving appropriate shapes using a long iron stick, burning coal and something to pat on the lacquer to shape it. Basically colorful lacquer is pasted around a stick and then it's heated to give it appropriate thickness and shape. He showed us the whole process of making Lacquer bangles. Don't miss out the video in the bottom of this post which shows the way he made some bangles for usIt was exciting to see making of lacquer bangles in front of us and almost all of us preferred to buy the bangles which he was making at that point of time. Although girls grabed some of the other bangles which has painting or glass work on them. After shopping, idea was to visit a farm but we spent lot of time at this shop to see him making these bangles for us and we dropped the plan then. Just after this round in Churu market, we moved to our resort as a very special activity was waiting for us - Pabuji Ki Phad.If you notice the bangles in above photograph, these are again lacquer bangles only but some colorful crystals are used to make it more colorful and designer. She is mother of the artist who was showing use Bangle making techniquesPrice of these bangles varies a lot. One of the factors that adds to the price of the bangles is the kind of artifacts or the work done further. What we bought were simpler ones with few designs which were done during the process of molding the lacquer. Other types of work on bangles include - embroidery or small glass pieces or paintings or even small hangings that are attached to the bangles. The rareness of a color and its unique value also increase the value. Bangles made from lac/lacquer are one of the oldest ones and among the brittle category too.Bangles are part of traditional Indian jewellery for women. They are usually worn in pairs by women, one or more on each arm. Most Indian women prefer wearing either gold or glass bangles or combination of both. But lacquer bangles are preferred for some special occasions. Lacquer bangles are more popular among urban women, as many of the rural indian states prefer glass bangles over others due to some beliefs involved. Lot of fashion designers use lacquer made jewellery for their shows or clients.Lac/Lacquer is clay like material which is molded in hot places to make these bangles and give appropriate shapes/designs. Among the recent entrants are the rubber bangles that are worn more like a wrist band by youngsters while the plastic ones are there to add a trendy look. But when in Rajasthan state of India, it makes sense to visit a small lacquer bangle shop and ask for bangles of your choice of design. Lacquer bangles are one of the best gifts from Rajasthan for your loved ones.

If you are roaming around Rajasthan, don't forget to buy Lacquer bangels.

Recent visit to Churu with fellow Travel-Writers was an exciting trip. During this stay we visited Prem Sarovar which is a beautiful water-bosy surrounded by beautiful landscapes. It was great to spend some time around Prem Sarovar and enjoyed our special lunch hosted by Malji Ka Kamara. This Photo Journey shares some of the photographs from Prem Sarovar in Churu region of Rajasthan.Above photograph shows the whole gang waiting for lunch to be served in one of the chhattris around the water body, which is called as Prem Sarovar in Churu. Malji ka Kamara team had done some very good arrangements for this special lunch after a round of Ramgarh with lovely havelis, chhatris and fresco.While compiling this Photo Journey, I tried to find more details about the place and found the National Geographic has written a beautiful article on Churu, which has wrong photograph of Prem Sarovar. The photograph shown in http://natgeotraveller.in/magazine/short-breaks/mansionsandmarkets.html is actually Sethani ka Johara and not Prem Sarovar. It was a big surprise to see wrong imagery used by National Geographic website, which is a very trusted portal to find right information about different destinations across the world.After having scrumptious lunch at Prem Sarovar, all of us came out and had few walks around the place. Rohan & Harnoor were leaving us after the lunch, so everyone wanted to have a photo session at Prem Sarovar. As you move out of the Prem Sarovar boundary, there is a huge land with beautiful trees standing high against blue sky.While everyone was busy clicking photographs of each other, I thought of going closer to these beautiful trees and click some photographs. Malji team had told us the name of these trees but I forgot. I will try to update the blog with name, as I get some specific details.Like Sethani ka Johara, tourists love to come here during sunset time to enjoy colorful sky and it's reflection in water. On the way to Prem Sarovar, we came across and group of peacocks and we found that Prem Sarovar is usually surrounded by peacocks and especially during early evening when this place gets more sunlight as compared to the nearest village there. Deers are also found around Prem Sarovar in Churu.I love shooting sun with star effect and Prem Sarovar at Churu was best place to try few shots like this. The clear sky during winters is very helpful to get it right without any extra lens-filter.Nadya was going straight to Railway station from Prem Sarovar and hence everyone wanted to spend more time with her. She was also in a very good mood and we got a chance to listen to some stories & poems. She is a happy child, who was a great company throughout the Churu trip :)Compre to Sethani Ka Johara, Prem Sarovar is father from the Churu town and hence less frequented by people visiting Churu. Sethani ka Johara is easilapproachable but Prem Sarovar is definitely a good option for peace lovers and folks who want to explore some local wildlife.

Ranthambore -

Tiger tourism is one of the popular tourisms in India and lot of folks visit India to see Bengal Tigers in the wild. Rajasthan also has a Wildlife sanctuary at Sawai Madhopur. Ranthambore National park is one of the popular tiger reserves in the country and lot of folks visit Ranthambore for seeing tigers in the wild. And forests of Ranthambore also have plenty of peakcocks, deers and various other birds & animals. Ranthambore fort and Hanuman temple inside it is something which adds different flavor to your trip.

Beyond the sand dunes - Main places to visit and things to do in Rajasthan state of India

Sariska in Rajasthan has another wildlife conservation zone - Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary. If you plan to visit Sariska, you can also plan for beautiful Siliserh lake.

Mandawa/Shekhwati region -

Last weekend we were in Churu Town of Rajasthan and the first thing to do in Churu was City Tour, mainly a 3 hour walk through the streets of Churu Town. This whole town has some of the very grand Havelis which are maintained by local folks. This Photo Journey shares some photographs of Havelis from Churu Town with relevant information.After crazy drive from Delhi to Churu, we reached Maji Ka Karma which is a Heritage Hotel in the town. Deepak at 'Malji Ka Karma' had organized this city tour for us after lunch. So after having our lunch we moved to the street walk with a local guide Lal Singh. Malji ki Kamra was basically a Haveli for guests, so we first encountered the main Haveli of Malji which was just across the Hotel.Churu is a beautiful town in the desert region of Rajasthan state of India. When I say beautiful, it essentially means the Heritage value and different culture to explore. Otherwise these streets were not very clean. Churu is also known as gateway to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Churu town is the administrative headquarters of a District of Rajasthan. Churu District lies in the Thar Desert around National Highway-65 which connects Pali to Ambala. Town is very well connected through Train as well. Churu Town is near shifting sand dunes of the Thar Desert & during the trip we had bonfire in desert as well. As of now, let's talk more about the Havelis and the heritage this town hasChuru has grand havelis with marvelous fresco paintings. Some of the biggest Havelis in Churu are Kanhaiya lal Bagla ki Haweli and Surana Haweli, with hundreds of small windows. There is also a Hawa Mahal which has 1111 windows and doors of different sizes. Churu also has some fine Chhatris but relatively lesser in number as compared to Havelis. Mr Lal Singh took us to different Havelis.Near Churu town, there is a Dharam Stup, which symbolizes religious equality and supposedly, it's a popular religious place. At the centre of the Churu town, there is a fort which is built about 400 years ago. Because of this short trip, we couldn't visit this fort but it seems there is hardly any preservation of the fort and very few folks go there.Most of the walls of these Havelis were Painted. Some of the paintings were not in good shape but most of them were there and we could make out the subjects drawn. Only very few Havelis were well maintained and some of them had redrawn the painting. Few looked good and many of them seemed overdone with modern colors. Charm of painting done with natural colors is very different and can't be replaced with chemical colors. There were paintings of Maharaja of Bikaner, the closest Rajya to Churu.Arches in different Havelis have intricate work and this really shows the way art-forms were used in building these luxurious places to live. There is something very special about discovering the unknown. While walking through these lanes, I realized that may of the popular cities of Rajasthan must also have such Heritage Havelis but we end up exploring popular things which are marketed well by commercial players of those cities/towns/regions. For the regular tourist, Churu is a dusty little town in Rajasthan with no infrastructure and no real attraction. But if we take time to know more and keep exploring, every Haveli of Churu Town has stories to tell about prosperity & strong culture. Vibrancy of Churu Town lies very much into the historical value and it's strong cultural environment.Most Havelis in Churu Town of Rajasthan are owned by the various generations of the Kothari Family and Parekh Family. Most of them are all lying in ruins. Most of these have caretakers but even those families can take care of small portions of these Havelis. Mostly 2-5 rooms out of hundreds are operational in most of these Havelis of Churu. Above photograph is shot from the top of a Haveli and the views from top were amazing...At times, these Havelis were haunting. While moving around these streets, we started talking about ghosts and the discussion continued throughout the trip. The Hawa Mahal speaks the about haunted air of the place.Every part of these Havelis in Churu is a piece of art in itself - Be it windows or doors, Pillars or Basements, Roofs or Terraces... There are various stories depicted on the walls of these Havelis through paintings. At the same time, all these paintings also depict elemental stuff. Be it trains, cars, horses, elephants, palakis, gods, godesses etc.While exploring these streets of Churu Town in Rajasthan, we met some Silver artists, who were making crockery with silver and it seems that most of this stuff is exported.Long forgotten.. During the walk some of us were discussing about the heritage value of windows, doors & other artifacts in these Havelis. And it was shocking to see that no one is worried about the preservation of many of these things in town. Only government or actual owners of these properties can take this bigger responsibility of preserve this Heritage and increase the lifetime of this town, region and the state.Many of these Havelis in Churu have portraits of the Maharaja of Bikaner and the ancestors of the family who own few of these Havelis in Churu town of Rajasthan. While walking through the streets and Havelis of Churu, we reaches a street having heavy painting work on outer walls. A wall was showing very different stuff. Marwari merchants from Churu were very rich and well travelled as well. On some of the walls, Jesus Christ images were there. Some of the depiction on these walls can be disturbing for believers of religions.There is a very well presevred Temple in the town, which is surrounded by Havelis. The Jain temple replicates the exact architecture found in Amer Fort of Jaipur. We shall share a specific Story on Jain Temple of Churu Town. One of the few things maintained in Churu town was a temple, which is funded by the Kothari family.There is beauty all around us, only if our definitions of beauty are flexible enough to see beyond the obvious and explore more to appreciate it better.

If you are interested in exploring some of the popular havelis of Rajasthan, you must have heard of Mandawa, Shekhawati, Churu, Rampur or Jhunjhunu. Some of the popular havelis in this region are Sewaram Saraf Haveli, Ram Pratab Nemani Haveli, Hanuman Prasad Goemka Haveli, Goenka Double Haveli, Murmuria Haveli, Jhunjhunwala Haveli, Mohan Lal Saraf Haveli, Gulab Rai Ladia Haveli, Aakharam ki Haveli. When I visited Churu to explore these havelis, we stayed in a haveli called - 'Malji Ka Kamra' . Some of the havelis have been converted into hotels now and few of them are doing good job at offering beautiful experiences of stay in Rajasthan. Walking around the streets of Mandawa and Shekhwati regions is a brilliant experience. There are some national award winning families of artists in this part of Rajasthan. Frescos of Shekhawati are worth exploring.

Most of these Havelis have water bodies around them, which are called as 'Johra'. These are huge water bodies which were used by specific families staying in these havelis. There are also some interesting temples around Churu and Ramgarh.

During our Heritage walk through streets of Churu, we reached a beautifully maintained temple near market. This is a Jain temple and have outer structure similar to a building inside Amer Fort of Jaipur, Rajasthan. This Photo Journey shares some of the golden photographs from the interiors of the temple and colorful fresco pantingsThis Jain Temple in Churu has some of the best paintings painted in Golden colors. This special temple , which is maintained by Kotharis, is at least a few centuries old and worth a visit when you are in ChuruThe Paintings inside Churu Jain Temple are mostly of moral living suggestions type. There are some beautiful paintings on walls and some glass work as well. Whole temple is very well lit with colorful lights. Apart from this temple Churu has various other temples, Gurudwaras & Masjids. Almost all the times, we were hearing prayer sounds from one or other religious places. While walking through the streets, we saw various smaller temples as well. And there were some smaller temples inside few of the Havelis as well. his Jain temple is surrounded by various old Havelis which are comparatively in bad condition. The Havelies in Churu are impressively decorated with Belgian etched kaleidoscopic glasses in many shapes and designs in interiors as well as outer walls. Their intricate designs and wood-carving on door-frames are commendable. Let me stop talking about Havelis again :)It was amazing to see such a temple in this old town of Rajasthan, Churu. Whole temple was glittering with colorful lights and their reflections on golden paintings and galss-designs. Above photograph shows the roof of this temple.This Jain Temple is a must visit option while you take Heritage Tour through old Havelis of Churu.

Surajgarh is another place in Jhunhjunu which has some havelis which are converted into hotels.

One of the exciting activity during our Churu trip was the beautiful evening when a bhopa family narrated the story of Pabuji, the Rathor Rajput Chief through their local musical instruments and songs describing the story. It was our last evening at Churu and next day we had to drive back to Delhi. The evening was full of fun with some of the awesome folk songs along with the popular lyrics like - 'Kesariya'. This Photo Journey shares some of the moments spent listening to 'Pabuji ki Phad' and dance moments with the family, who were telling this story.Deepak the owner of Malji Ka Kamara gave us some background about Pabuji Ki Phad - From where it started, who tell this story, what all instruments they use and various other things as the evening progressed.'Pabuji Ki Phad' is a basically a religious painting, which is mainly used for telling a musical story of Pabuji. Pabuji is considered as the Rathod Rajput chief. Bhopas of Pabusar are considered as traditional narrators of this art form. This art of telling story of Pabuji is very popular in Indian state of Rajasthan and it seems that there are very few folks in the world who know about this story. and there are only handful of folks, who know the complete story of Pabuji. Pabuji is also known as 'the Ascetic Deity of Sand Desert'. More about 'Pabuji Ki Phad' can be checked at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pabuji_Ki_PhadThis family came dressed in red with all their musical instruments including a Ravan-hattha; which is made up of goat skin and camel teeth, a dhol and a metallic instrument. The man in left photograph was the leader, who was singing with Ravan-hattha and his wife was singing along at relevant places. One of his cousins was on dhol and son was dancing of the songs.Many times the lead musician stood up to accompany his son in dancing on beautiful rajasthani folk songs. It was awesome to see him dancing along with singing and playing ravan hattha.It is believed that Ravanhatha is originated among the Hela civilisation of Sri Lanka in the time of King Ravana. The bowl is made of cut coconut shell, the mouth of which is covered with goat hide. The stick is made up of bamboo, which is attached to this shell. There are two main strings - one is made up of steel and the other is made up of a set of horse hair. To know more about Ravanhatha, check out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravanahatha .Not sure, how many of us could really appreciate the epic of Pabuji but for sure, everyone of us enjoyed a lot on the music showcased by this family. Almost everyone of us danced with them on floor and few of the girls made best use of this opportunity to try out all the steps used by the Rajasthani folks at Malji Ka Kamara. Overall experience was great and thanks for Mr. Lalji who corrected many of the facts which were being presented to us during the story telling part. Usually it's difficult to complete this story in an evening and it's not even recommended. But it's a good way for making people aware about these folk arts which are there for so many years and it's good to see that some of these folks are keeping it alive. The Churu ended very well with this performance by folks of Rajasthan, India.We shall go to Churu to experience this better !

There are few families around this region of Rajasthan, who tell stories popularly known as - Pabu ji ki phad. There are few sand dunes around this region and if weather allows, you can plan night camping under the twinkling stars around yellow landscapes.

Bundi -

In last few years Bundi has gained special attention in Rajastha. Most of the houses in Bundi are painted in blue. Some of the popular places to explore in Bundi include - Taragarh Fort, Bundi Palace, Raniji ki Baori, Nawal Sagar, Nagar Sagar twin steps wells, Dabhai Kund, Sukh mahal, Jait Sagar Lake, Phool Sagar, Kshar Bagh and Chaurasi Khambon ki Chhatri.

Pushkar -

Pushkar is a unique town in Rajasthan where moods of town keep changing during the day. Morning starts with chants around the holy lake (Pushkar lake) near Bramha temple and gradually market starts getting busy with lot of trades. By evening all roof top cafes are high on music.

7 years back when I started learning and practicing Photography seriously, I planned to visit Pushkar Camel Fair. It's a very good place to go and shoot diverse things - people, action, games, camels, colorful dresses, dance performances, trades, mela, temples, lake and lot more. It's definitely worth exploring once and camera is a not must :). This Photo Journey shares 7 years old photographs from Pushkar, along with some of the experiences you can expect during Pushkar Camel Fair. My mentor told me about the fair, although I was not sure if I would be able to take out that weekend for Pushkar visit. On Friday evening, I realized that I don't have anything pending for weekend. So went home, packed my bag and reached ISBT Delhi. I got a comfortable bus from Delhi bus-stand to Ajmer. It was a good ride from Delhi to Ajmer in Rajasthan Road Trasport bus. Bus dropped me at Ajmer before 5am. Again took a local bus and reached Pushkar town. It was very cold in the morning, so took out my jacket and started searching for a place to stay & keep my stuff safe for next two days. It's recommended to do advance booking if you want to stay in a good hotel, otherwise smaller options can be explored when you are there. But I am talking about it from my 7 years old experience :)I got a nice hotel along the lake-side. There are many havelis around the lake which have been converted into Hotels. During the fair, these hotels have special arrangements on roof-top to party and enjoy special evenings with friends. Above photograph is shot from the roof-top of my hotel. During my stay, I realized that many of these hotels also have dormitories. Lot of groups from Israel & other foriegn countries prefer to stay together and try to keep the cost low. That's how they can travel more to explore different parts of our country. There is a 5-10 minutes walk from Bramha temple to the grounds where Camel Fair happens. There is a stadium in Pushkar which is mainly used for various games and competitions, in which camels, horses and elephants participate. Check out this video showcasing horse dance competition - This lake in Pushkar is huge and has religious importance. You can notice lot of religious activities happening around the ghats. Lot of pandits may approach you to do different types of worships, so be very aware of all that. Don't indulge into any discussions with these guys, because I have seen these folks shouting on innocent folks roaming around and make them do different things without their wish. They create pressure on people by different means and at times, tourists feel helpless. It's sad to see such activities happening at such a beautiful place, because many times foreigners take back those bad experiences with themI am sure that you must be wondering about camels in this Photo Journey. I have lost most of my Pushkar shots in a HDD crash and these are picked from other locations & friends. So at Pushkar Camel Fair, you can expect lot of camels all around. Header photograph of this blog is also one of the shot from Pushkar.The fair happens every year in the month of October, so if you feel like visiting Pushkar Camel Fair this year, just check out the schedule and plan your visit. It's a week long fair, so you may want to check the schedule and decide appropriate days to visit Pushkar town in Rajasthan.Food at Pushkar Camel Fair is another special experience. It gets really hard to find Indian food in Pushkar, except some of the dhabas on fair ground. Most of the restaurants in main town serve non-Indian cuisine. They of-course charge higher but still reasonable :). During the stay, make it a point to talk to local folks and try to undertsnad more about the Camel trading and various other activities of this fair. You would be surprised to know about some facts around pricing of camels, types of camels and how people bring them here etcPushkar is also a great place to capture some colorful portraits from Rajasthan State of India. I am sure that many of you can click far better portraits than what is shared on this blog.I am also trying to figure out the possibilities to visit Pushkar Camel Fair this year. Keep me informed if any of you want to come along. Comment back.. We can connect and plan together.

Some of the restaurants and cafes don't treat Indians well. So please do read restaurant & cafe reviews by Indians and decide. If you are foreigner, you will get a good treatment. Here I also want to warn that you can avoid Lonely Planet recommendations, because they worked in a bad way for me. I will be doing a separate post on that soon.

Pushkar Camel Fair is very popular which attracts lot of Indian and International tourists from different parts of the world. This camel fair is a great opportunity for Photography enthusiasts to shoot different kinds of subjects/experiences and learn through challenging situations this Fair offers. Camel Trading, Horse dance, races, Foreigner's Bridal competition, Dance competitions and lot of interesting events happen throughout the week.

Mount Abu -

Mount Abu is popular hill station in Rajasthan State of India, which is in Aravali mountain ranges and places around Gujrat border. A decade before Mount Abu was part of main trips of Rajasthan, although the popularity of Mount Abu has gone down over time. This place is still very popular amongsts Gujrat tourists. Some of the popular places to explore in Mount Abu are - Achalgarh Fort, Durga Temple, Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, Dilwara Temples, Nakki lake.

Bikaner -

Bikaner is famous for various arts and crafts and especially beautiful carved windowpanes called jharokhas. Many of the travellers recommend Bikaner as a place to explore authentic taste of rajasthani cuisines. The various fairs of Bikaner attract a huge number of visitors from all around India and the world. The famous temples like Karni Mata and Laxmi Nath Temple etc. are also worth the visit. Some of the place and things of interest in Bikaner include - Junagarh Fort, Lalgarh Palace, Gajner Palace, Bikaner Camel Safari Day Tours, Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary, Ganga Singh Museum.

Chittorgarh-

Chittorgarh has largest fort in India - Chittor fort. Rana Kumbha Palace is another interesting place to explore. Some of the places to explore around Chittorgarh include – Kalika Mata temple, Vijay Stambha, Kirti Stambha, Rana Kumbha’s Palace, Rani Padmini’s Palace.

Haunted fort of Bhangarh -

If you are searching for Rajasthan, I am sure that you must have heard of haunted fort in Bhangarh. The haunted nature of the fort creates a curiousity and hence people end up visiting this fort. Without saying much, I would recommend you to check out the Bhangarh experience shared by an avid traveller Animesh.

A post can't do justice to enlist interesting places in Rajasthan, but to chose the best options for you, I would recommend you to check out other links mentioned in this post and make your own list. If you have any questions, please drop us those through comments.