Explore Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer was built to be the most improbable city in India. In 1156 AD, Maharawal Jaisal chose a 76-metre sandstone ridge in the middle of the Thar Desert-100 kilometres from the nearest permanent water source-to build his capital. The Sonar Quila (Golden Fort) that grew from this decision over the following centuries is the only fully inhabited fort in the world: approximately 3,000 people still live inside 12th-century walls. The fort contains Jain temples (11th-12th century, built before the fort itself), havelis (the carved sandstone merchant mansions of the Patwas, Nathmal, and Salim Singh families), and the narrow lanes of what was once the most important trading post on the Rajasthan section of the Silk Road. Jaisalmer's search demand has risen 67% year on year-India's fastest growth rate for any domestic destination. The reasons are legible in what the destination offers: a visual distinctiveness that no other Indian city matches, a hotel property (Suryagarh) that has become a reference point for luxury desert hospitality in Asia, and a Sam Sand Dunes experience that no other Indian desert matches for drama and accessSuryagarh, 5 kilometres from Jaisalmer city on the Sam road, is a 102-room fortress-inspired luxury property that opened in 2012 and has consistently been ranked among India's finest luxury hotels. The property runs its own curated Langa folk music programme-daily performances by hereditary musicians from the Langa community, the Muslim singing caste of western Rajasthan whose music pre-dates the Rajput period. The kitchen has been recognised for producing refined Rajasthani cuisine: the ker sangri (desert beans with capers), the laal maas (mutton in dried red chilli), and the dal bati churma (lentils with baked wheat dumplings) are made here with ingredients sourced from Marwari markets rather than wholesale suppliers. Sam Sand Dunes, 42 kilometres from Jaisalmer on the Sam road, are where the Thar Desert reaches its most photogenic form-great crescent dunes rising 30-60 metres, no vegetation, the sky at night showing stars at a density available only in areas with zero light pollution. The private dunes dinner arranged by Alike-a table in the sand, a Manganiyar musician, a Rajasthani kitchen-is not the group camp experience that most Jaisalmer visitors get. It is exclusive to the party booked. Patwon ki Haveli, the five connected havelis built between 1800 and 1860 by the Patwa merchant family, represents the apex of Jaisalmer's stone-carving tradition: 38 balconies across the facade, each one different, carved in yellow sandstone by craftsmen who worked for 50 years on the building. Gadisar Lake, 1.5 kilometres from the city, was built in 1367 as Jaisalmer's only water reservoir-a tank with a temple island, chhatris (memorial pavilions), and the Tilon ki Pol gateway, morning light on which is the most photographed Jaisalmeribility.