Bikaner offers awesome scenes of Thar
Desert with majestic sand dunes, hard scorched rocky
soil and thorn shrubs that look quite attractive to
adventurers and committed travelers. It is enlivened by
the sight of the red sandstone fort and architectural
heritage that gives a royal look to the surrounded by a
fortification wall, which is 5-9m high and is more than
5 km in circumference. One of the cities of the Desert
Tour Triangle, Bikaner reached its height due to its
strategic location at the silk route, the famous path
used by the tradesmen at the time when camel caravans
were a common sight. Rao Bikaji founded the city in 1486
AD. The other highlight of the city is the Camel
Breeding Farm, only one of its kinds in Asia and the
much-famous Camel Festival.
Traditional vivid-colored costumes of the natives and
the bright and vivacious fairs and festivals that
display native paintings, murals, wares, arts and
handicrafts attract tourists to the city. The Camel
Festival is held on the full moon night every year in
January and is famous for many unique events such as
camel races, camel dances and camel rides along with the
exotic performances of Rajasthani folk songs and dances.
Kite Festival on Teej bears a special significance here
as it commemorates the day, when the city was founded.
Karni Mata Fair, dedicated to the royal deity of the
Bikaner rulers, is held at Deshnoke twice a year on the
ninth day of the Navratra.
Bikaner's Prime Attractions
Junagarh Fort
The fort was built during the reign of Akbar, by his
contemporary Hindu ruler Raja Rai Singh and has a record
of being unconquered till date. The only dent in this
history was the brief seizure of the fort by Kamran who
could not retain it for more than 24 hours. The
precincts of the fort houses 37 palaces, temples and
pavilions. They used red sandstone and marble for their
construction and were richly embellished with mirror
work, paintings and stone carvings. The highlights of
the Fort are the Suraj Pol or the Sun Gate, the main
doorway of the fort; Chandra Mahal or Moon palace; Phool
Mahal or Flower Palace; Karan Mahal or Karn Palace; Anup
Mahal; Hall of Public Audience Hall; Hawa Mahal or Wind
Palace; Badal Mahal or Cloud Palace; Rang Mahal or Color
Palace) and Dungar Mahal. The Fort Junagarh Museum
offers a wide range of manuscripts, carpets, jars,
jewellery, armory, treaties, and several other royal
trivia on its display. The Fort remains closed for the
visitors on Fridays.
Lalgarh Palace
Sir Swinton Jacob designed this palace and it was built
by Maharaja Ganga Singh. This daunting building uses
eclectic combination of Oriental style delicate
latticework and European style luxurious overhanging
balconies and terraced lawns. Natural beauty is enhanced
by the presence of peacocks and bougainvillea bushes in
the palace while the Library displays a rich collection
of rare, original Sanskrit manuscripts on parchments,
copper and gold or silver plaques. Palace Museum or Shri
Sadul Museum is housed on the first floor of the palace
and exhibits well-preserved hunting trophies, royal
costumes and other trivia that belong the former rulers
such as camera, golf tees, camera, books, electric
toothbrush of the former 'maharaja', his earplugs and
old photos. The Palace remains closed on Wednesdays.
Ganga Golden Jubilee Museum
This museum offers you an invaluable insight into pre-Harappan,
Gupta, and Kushan pottery, carpets, paintings, Bikaneri
miniatures, armory and coins along with local arts of
the area.
Camel Breeding Farm
Very near to Bikaner is the unique camel research and
breeding center, only one of its kinds in Asia. It had
its origin in the Camel Corp of the British army and
today houses more than 250 camels and cute baby-camels
that are a great tourist attraction. Kids love to ride
the camels here. The visit to this farm is free but it
remains closed on Saturdays. However, on second Saturday
of the month it is opened for two hours from 3 to 5 pm.
Deshnok
30 km from Bikaner, the 600-year old Karni Mata Temple
holds a special significance to the natives of the city
as it is dedicated to the Goddess Karni Mata, the royal
deity of the former rulers of Bikaner. It is perhaps the
only place where you can find thousands of rats in the
temple that are fed by the devotees and are provided a
safe sanctuary here because people believe that they are
actually the holy men devoted to Goddess who came here
to live in the temple in this form. There is only a
single white rat here and to spot is considered a lucky
omen. The temple remains open from 4 am to 10 pm.
Bikaner City Facts
