Dec 31, 2008 12:27 AM
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(Updated Dec 31, 2008 12:31 AM)
Kesariya Balam Padharo ne mare Desh" is a very famous melodious Marwari song of Rajasthan, specially in Western Rajasthan of India means Guests are welcome in my State(Country). This is truly replicated in every act the moment you land in the beautiful & magnificent hotel of Jaisalmer of Rajasthan named as Fort Rajwada. This is one of the best architecturally carved hotel in the sand dunes of Thar desert of Rajasthan at one of the most affordable prices where hotel prices in other parts of the world of deluxe star hotels are rocketing. The hotel as the name it self predicts is a kind of fort with centuries old style magnificent stone carving interiors & exteriors attached with the famous traditional Rathore's/ Rajasthani hospitality makes the stay as most memorable of our life times.
As you enter the hotel reception it automatic gives you a feeling that you are certainly at a traditional beautiful Rajasthani place. Huge Rajasthani paintings along with the minute stone carvings windows gives you a feeling that you are bound to have a true Rajasthani thrilling environment during your stay. Guest rooms are glittered with exclusive white marble flooring seems to be personally hand selected to make the interiors of the room most fascinating. Obviously the suites are much well decorated and exclusive palaces . Restaurants Sonal /Roopal will lavish you with all vegetarian /non vegetarian dishes with a huge varieties of traditional quality Rajasthani dishes like Gatta, Kair/Sangri, Kheech, Chakki ki Subji and so on. A beautiful swimming pool along with health & business centre compels you to extend your stay beyond your plans in this great city of Rajasthan.
If you are fortunate and staying in the hotel during the Christmas/New Year eves or other special occasions expect one of the best evenings of your life times. During my stay on the Christmas eve the melodious/thrilling Rajasthani Hamira band with Internationally renowned artists from the Khan families from Jaislamer made the evening one of the most electrifying and memorable. Their Jugalbandhi & synchonisation is matchless and kept the 200 odd guests of the hotel on toes. This whole group Khethe Khan/Firoz Khan is already booked for next couple of years in Europe & America and have very less time to spare for these evenings. Thanks to hotel management who have booked them well in advance for their exclusive guests from all over the world and was in true sense giving a taste of old rich traditional Rajasthani music. This was one of the most fantastic experience I have ever had.
The excitement never ends in this place attached with your visit to sand dunes on one of the evenings with a long Camel Safari visit to see sun sets . And than another melodious Rajasthani group entertains you in the midst of Sand Dunes in the late evenings with camp fires put you on the top of the world. The Royal welcome with lavish dinner & drinks and comfortable exciting stay in a Swiss tent makes your visit the most memorable of your life times. Early Mornings you can again chill out to see the sun rising from the far sand dunes sitting on a camel back cannot be expressed in words. Every thing is very minutely taken care by the hotel staff who are very courteous and committed for their guests. Only thing the guest has to do is to inform & book your stay in advance through their website( http://www.fortrajwada.com) and whole staff is at your end.
Jaisalmer is one of districts of Rajasthan lies in the Western Rajasthan of India and one of the biggest tourist hub most popular among the foreigners and desi Indian tourists. Very famous for Sand dunes( sun sets & sun rise) in Thar desert with exciting Camel Safaris is also equally famous for Jaisalmer fort and many traditional old rich Havelis( Living houses of wealthy Rajasthani trader families). Rajasthan most famous Havelis Patwon ki haveli, Salam Singh ki haveli, Dewan Naath mal ki haveli are carved in fine details and obviously crafted by the best crafts of their times.
Jaisalmer fort also called Sonar Kila(Golden Fortress) in local language was built by one of the Bhatti Chiefs Rawal Jaisal in 1156 AD. The beauty of the fort is that it lies on a hill called Trikuta and is made of yellow sand stone. Its beauty is at its peak when it is ignited in scorched sun lights of deserts giving an image of golden flame. A unique Rajput & Islamic architectural is clearly visible in the fort . Laxmi Nath temple of Lord Krishna & Jain temples which were built around 12 th Centuries are magnificent pieces of architectures holds the breath of tourists from all folks of society inside the fort. Still a large local population lives in fort .
Other important tourist attractions in Jaisalmer are Lake Gadisar, Kuldhara(20 kms), Mool Sagar/Amar Sagar, Luderva( Beautifuul Jain temple) Vyas Chowk and many more. Lake Gadisar was the life line of people of Jaisalmer before piped water came to city. There was a time in olden days when there was severe scarcity of drinking water and only dependency of people was rain water .They often used to say that many a times a child see his first rainfall only after he reached his age of 7 years. Now the times have changed and you can enjoy boating in lake Gadisar though still rain is very less in this area of Rajasthan making the people stronger & tougher to combat the hardness of life.
Getting a room in a hotel in Jaisalmer will be very difficult in the peak seasons like Christmas, New Year eve, Desert Festival/Maru Festival and during Dusshera/Diwali break. There are another very good hotels in Jaislamer like Gorbandh, Rangmahal, Narayan Niwas and hundreds more but no doubt Hotel Fort Rajwada is only unique hotel among them and very famous among many Bollywood stars. Many of the hit Bollywood movies were shooted in and around Jaisalmer and obviously hotel Fort Rajwada was the centre of attraction. The best way is to plan your holiday in advance . The place is one of the safest place for any kind of tourists and people are very cooperative and helpful though with time it is also moving towards commercialization .
Jaisalmer situated around 285 kms from Jodhpur is most easily accessible by excellent road network from Jodhpur with very less traffic mainly tourist vehicles. Every half an hour there are buses to Jaisalmer from Jodhpur(5-6 hrs) and many of the tourist prefer to take their own taxis from Jodhpur. A Taverra car/taxi best suitable for 4-5 persons can be hired around 2000 INR/day depending upon the tourist season from Jodhpur. My taxi driver Mr. Shaukhat Khan(+ 91 98292 49674) is like an encyclopedia who knows every thing in Jaisalmer and have extensive knowledge from Jain religion to Paliwal Brahmins of Kuldhara of Jaisalmer, belongs to Jaisalmer area was certainly a feather in cap . Along the way from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer you can also make a visit to famous Ramdeora temple at Ramdeora near Pokhran( place famous for nuclear testing). Jodhpur the second biggest city of Rajasthan is well connected by Rail/ Road & Air from New Delhi/ Mumbai/ Jaipur/ Udaipur/ Ahmadabad /Lucknow/Kanpur/Howrah with excellent Road /Rail networks . Visitors may plan their Jaisalmer visit along with Jodhpur which is world famous for Mehran Garh fort/Umaid Bhawan palaces and excellent handicrafts shopping and many more tourist attractions.
