The Rough Guide describes Jaisalmer as the quintessential Arabian Nights town. I'd shy away from that description myself lest it conjur images of Disney's ALADDIN. That wouldn't do the town justice.
Jaisalmer was founded in 1156 by Rawal Jaisal of the Bhati clan. The town is dominated by a vast yellow-sandstone fort on top of a high rocky table-like hill. It's a magnificent sight, especially since the gold-brown colour of the 'golden city' melts into the desert landscape around it. Jaislamer is a desert city made of desert stone and colour. Aesthetically at least it is at one with the landscape.
The sprawling, high fort might look wonderful from a distance, but up close it's irresistable. Jaisalmer is famous for its carved stone Havelis (many of these were rich merchant's houses) and the finely worked detail of the stonework on these takes your breath away.
Of course most fort cities have histories of violence and war and Jaisalmer is no exception. It seems that its proudest moments were the three (actually, two and a half) johars committed: one in 1298, one in 1326 and the final in 1570.
Johar is ritual suicide. In the first instance, 1298, the town had been under seige for seven years. Decideing that they could not win the battle, the men of Jaisalmer rode out to fight a final battle - the idea I suppose being that if you are going to die, you want to take an many enemies with you as possible - while the women jumped off the fort into a blazing inferno. Rather like Japenese ritual suicide there seems to have been a lot of honour attached to this sort of death and the women would stay up the night before the johar to make themsleves beautiful to meet their husbands and fathers in the afterlife.
Because johar was a ritual with strict protocols, the 1570 johar is not considered a full one. There was no time for the necessary rites and the construction of the pyre, so the men cut the women's throats before riding out the city gates one last time.
Although nearly every surface of Jaisalmer is wonderful, the most extraordinary decoration I saw was in the Jain temple. The Jain religion is an ancient one and Jain nuns and monks live far harsher lives than their buddhist bretheren (for instance, while buddhists shave their heads, Jain religious orders pull it out by the roots). Although there are apparently few Jains in Jaisalmer now, they were one very influential and gave money for something like 17 of the 18 bastions of the fort (if you are wondering where all this information comes from, the audioguide at the palace is excellent). The two Jain temples open to tourists are absolute works of art. The sculptures are curving, sensuous figures, elaborately decorated, and each with an intelligent, knowing look.
Jaisalmer's palace is worth going to as well. It's exquisite, like everything here, but it also gives a good overview of the lives of the maharawals (this is the word used here rather than maharaja) of Jaisalmer, the history of the region and its life now. One odd fact I learned is that the wind turbines in the desert around here generate power for, amongst other things, the lights on the border fence between India and Pakistan. A sharp reminder of where we are.
Over lunch I was served by a young guy with very good English who said he was from a desert village. He couldn't read or write in English, or much Hindi. He said that there wasn't a school at home when he was a child. He'd certainly never come across the job title of 'book publisher' and I think he went away thinking I was a writer.
It seems that in Jaisalmer a number of buildings and businesses are owned by Brahmins, while cooks, drivers, camel safari drivers etc come from the often Muslim desert people who live around the city. This was the case for the young guy I met in the restaurant and for the drivers of the camel safari we did last night.
I asked my waiter if he had a wife and he said no (and I think he blushed), but added that he was on a waiting list. He also described weddings in his village. There was a lot of description of ritual that I didn't get because his English got a bit cloudy in long descriptions, but it seems that 50,000 to 60,000 rupees is a standard dowry around here and the groom doesn't see the bride's face until they are married. Only when all the proceedings are finished may he lift the veil.
I asked if it was too late to change his mind at this point and he said, mournfully, 'yes, too late,' and then, 'I am praying my wife will be beautiful!'
To me he seemed far too guileless for any of the things he said ('I would like to meet a nice girl like you') to seem at all like pick-up lines, but he seemed to enjoy talking to a woman without any expectations or taboos around it. I hope that when he gets married he likes his wife, and she likes him!!
The tourist to Jaisalmer is just about obliged to go on camel safari. There are hundreds of operators and most hotels run them as well. In some ways it's touristy as all hell (it's not like yu are going anywhere useful on your camel), but as a way to get a view of the Thar desert and see what life is like out there for human, camel, dung beetle and desert mouse alike, it is worthwhile.
On the way to our camels we stopped at the deserted city of Kuldhara which the inhabitants walked away from one night in 1815. Locals, like our jeep driver, say it was because a powerful man wanted to marry a woman from a different cast. Hisotirans cite rising taxes from the ruler of Jaisalmer and drying up water. You might expect a few sleepy stone ruins but he place was huge. For more information read this: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-forgotten-city/638864
The thing that most surprised me about the Thar is how full of life it is. You think desert and you think dunes and heat and nothing. In reality the place is as full and fascinating as a forest.
Local people graze goats amongst the bizarre scrubby plants, 'desert mice' (what our guide called them, though they look like a small, dusty meercats) have complicated burrow networks, birds sing from most trees, and hoards of huge black scarab beetles scuttle across the sand.
The local villages are well inhabited too. Traditional houses are made of sand and dung with small windows and this makes them warm in winter and cool in summer. When we stopped at one village the children followed us around, trying every trick they knew to get pens, rupees, NZ money before we bumped off on our camels again.
Camel riding is fun but none too comfortable, though the view of the desert is wonderful up there. If you do one lean back when the camel gets up of goes down hills and you'll feel much more controlled if you keep your heels down - like riding a horse.
The main reson to do a camel safari though, is the stars and the people who show you the desert. We booked our safari from our hotel, Mystic Jaisalmer, and were beautifully looked after. Best of all was the Rajasthani singing which on this occasion was performed to the beat of water-flask and chappati plate drums. Our guide also told us the story of why there are no tigers in the desert (in brief, a raja tricked a tiger out of all his money to the ashamed beast left never to return) and a love story where another raja abandons his lover because he sees her with her sister who is dressed as a man to hide her identity and thinks the worst. In response I told the stories of how Maui slowed the sun and the fish of Maui and sang a black American folk song. L sings better so sang more. Those reading at home are not to expect a repeat performance from me please!
The stars are simply sublime. For someone from the southern hemishpere it's a completely different set of constellations, although Orion is the right way up and so is a fierce warrior with a sword and not a 'pot'.
Go for the stars if nothing else.
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