Bikaner Travel Guide: Junagarh Fort, Havelis & Desert Food

Bikaner sits deep in the Thar Desert of northwestern Rajasthan, roughly 330 km northwest of Jaipur and about 250 km north of Jodhpur, on the flat, scrub-covered plain that once carried caravan traffic between Central Asia and the ports of Gujarat. The city was founded in 1488 by Rao Bika, a son of Rao Jodha of Jodhpur, who rode north with a small band of followers and built a kingdom out of sand and trade tolls. That origin explains the city’s character: it grew rich not from farmland, which barely exists here, but from the merchants who paid to move opium, spices, silk and wool across the desert.

What survives is one of Rajasthan’s most intact old cities. The walled quarter is a maze of narrow lanes lined with red Dulmera sandstone mansions, the great fort stands on level ground rather than a hilltop, and camels are still working animals rather than a photo opportunity. Bikaner sees a fraction of the crowds that fill Jaipur and Udaipur, which is precisely why it rewards a slower visit. Palace Tours includes Bikaner on luxury rail journeys through Rajasthan, where guests arrive by private train, are met with traditional welcomes, and tour the fort and the desert without the logistics of long road transfers.

What to see in Bikaner

• Junagarh Fort — Built between 1589 and 1594 under Raja Rai Singh, a general in Akbar’s army, this is one of the few major Rajasthani forts constructed on the plains rather than a hill. It was never taken by a sustained siege, and its interior palaces survive with their original decoration intact.
• Anup Mahal and Phool Mahal — The finest chambers inside Junagarh. Anup Mahal is a coronation hall of gold leaf, lacquer and red-and-gold latticework; Phool Mahal, the “flower palace,” is set with mirror inlay that multiplies lamplight across the walls.
• Lalgarh Palace — Commissioned in 1902 by Maharaja Ganga Singh and designed by Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob in the Indo-Saracenic style. Its red sandstone screens are carved so finely they read as lace. Part of the complex is now a hotel, and the Sri Sadul Museum occupies another wing.
• Karni Mata Temple, Deshnoke — About 30 km south of the city, this temple is home to thousands of black rats, or kabbas, revered as reincarnated devotees of the goddess. Maharaja Ganga Singh added the marble façade and silver gates. Visitors enter barefoot; spotting a white rat is considered fortunate.
• The Rampuria Havelis — A cluster of merchant mansions in the old city, built by a single trading family in red sandstone with jharokha balconies, carved brackets and Italianate flourishes. They are often called the pride of Bikaner and are best seen on foot in early morning light.
• Bhandasar Jain Temple — A 15th-to-16th-century temple dedicated to the fifth Tirthankara, covered inside with mirror work, gold leaf and painted frescoes. Local tradition holds that ghee was mixed into its foundations instead of water.
• National Research Centre on Camel — A government breeding and research farm on the city’s edge, with several camel breeds, a small museum, and a dairy selling camel milk and camel milk ice cream. Late afternoon, when the herds return, is the time to come.
• Gajner Palace and Wildlife Sanctuary — Roughly 32 km out, a lakeside palace built as Ganga Singh’s shooting lodge and now a heritage hotel. The surrounding scrub forest draws blackbuck, nilgai, chinkara and large flocks of wintering imperial sandgrouse.
• Devi Kund Sagar — The royal cremation ground of the Bika dynasty, where marble and sandstone chhatris stand over successive rulers, several with painted ceilings. It is quiet, uncrowded and unexpectedly moving.

What to eat in Bikaner

Bikaner is a food name before it is anything else in India. Bikaneri bhujia — the crisp, spice-flecked noodle snack made from moth bean and gram flour — was created here in the 19th century and now carries a Geographical Indication tag; every second shopfront in the old city sells it warm from the fryer. Alongside it sit mountains of namkeen and papier-thin Bikaneri papad. The savoury street standard is the kachori, either the onion-stuffed pyaaz kachori or the sweet mawa kachori soaked in syrup.

Bikaner’s sweets are equally famous, above all its spongy rasgulla and rich rasmalai, with honeycombed discs of ghevar appearing in the festival months. At the table, expect classic desert Marwari cooking built for a place with little fresh produce: ker sangri, made from wild desert berries and dried beans; gatte ki sabzi, gram-flour dumplings in a yoghurt curry; dal baati churma; and fiery laal maas, mutton cooked with Mathania chillies. Bajra (millet) roti with garlic chutney is the everyday bread. To drink, take salted chaach buttermilk, masala chai, or camel milk, which is thinner and faintly saline — try it as ice cream first.

Shopping & crafts

Bikaner’s signature craft is Usta kala, a gold-embossing and miniature-painting technique applied to camel hide, wood and marble that exists in this form almost nowhere else in India. Look also for hand-knotted woollen carpets and durries, camel-leather slippers and bound journals, and lacquered bangles. The Kote Gate bazaar and the lanes around it are the main hunting ground, and any sweet shop will vacuum-pack bhujia and papad for the journey home.

Best time to visit

October through March is the season. Winter days are clear and warm enough for sightseeing, though desert nights can fall close to freezing in December and January, so pack a jacket. The Bikaner Camel Festival is held each January and fills the city with decorated camels, folk musicians and dance. April to June brings extreme heat, regularly above 45°C, and the light monsoon of July to September does little to cool it. Luxury rail itineraries through Rajasthan run in the cooler months for exactly this reason.

Good to know

• Karni Mata Temple is entered barefoot and the rats move freely across the floor. Thick socks are the usual compromise; leave your shoes at the counter outside.
• Junagarh Fort charges a separate camera fee, and the interior palaces are seen on a guided circuit — allow at least two hours.
• Bikaner Junction is a well-connected railhead; Nal airport has only limited scheduled flights, so most travellers arrive by train or road.
• The desert sun is severe even in winter. Carry water, a hat and sunscreen, and plan the old-city walk for early morning or late afternoon.
• Dress modestly for temples, cover shoulders and knees, and ask before photographing people in the havelis quarter, which is residential rather than a museum.