Picture Postcards from Bikaner’s Bylanes

The pandemic has put paid to my travelling plans and right now travellers are not in my good books. I will not confess at having even an iota of envy as I incessantly scroll through their Insta stories showing skiing trips to virgin glaciers only accessible by puny gliders or Facebook updates of morning walks under scarlet rhododendrons lining bridle paths snaking up a mountain side. Its not been a year to perform or perish, rather one of transform or perish, sometimes quite literally, unfortunately. So this year, the year of the backyard as I call it, has seen me transform from a traveller to an explorer. Health is where the hearth is, to give a new spin to an old saying.

Read more about the transformation in – Same Place, New Attitude 

Hearth now is at a place which is not up there on the tourist circuit despite being home to some well preserved treasures and no, I’m not talking about the bhujia! I mean as snacks go the crispy, mildly spiced bhujia is firmly in the category of safe savior/emergency tray filler. Nobody is going to salivate at the sight of it. One wickedly wonders how exciting can a place, word associated with the bhujia, be? Bikaner has always been seen as the poor country cousin to the more flamboyant Jodhpur with the jet-set crowd well jet-setting in and out of it, a romantic Udaipur- a honeymooner’s magnet, Jaisalmer with its commanding fort and pristine but fast disappearing sand dunes or even Jaipur offering most accessible sampling of all things Rajasthani.  But as is the wont of country cousins, what they might lack in chicness they make up in oodles of charm.

Savour tales of Rajasthan’s food in- Nasirabad’s Kachora: More than a Savoury Story

Bikaner’s founding ruler Rao Bika set off from Jodhpur around 1472 AD to a vast land which, despite being on the trade route from Central Asia to Gujarat, was so desolate and uninhabitable it was called Jangladesh. Ironically, there wasn’t any love lost between the two erstwhile states, the maximum battles over the centuries being fought to fend off the probing Jodhpur forces while Rao Bika’s pragmatic descendants managed to keep the peace with the Mughals and the British. Bikaner was way more progressive than any of her neighbouring princely states at the time of Independence and was the first to sign the Instrument of Accession to the Indian Union.

Scroll though another series of postcards starting with – Picture Postcards from Bundelkhand

So what does Bikaner serve up apart from the Junagarh fort which showcases some of the finest examples of the rare and opulent Usta artwork and houses palaces with names like Badal Mahal, Phool Mahal which faithfully reflect successive architectural influences? To be found here also are-Jain temples in all their carved glory, cenotaphs of nearly sixteen generations of royals clustered serenely near Devi Kund Sagar, havelis of uber rich merchants putting up an intricate and haughty facade to hide their inner desolation, a successful conservation story at Jorbeer’s vulture sanctuary and Karni Mata, the only temple in the world where rats are worshipped, to name a few. So much to tell over some drinks and Bikaneri Bhujia!

Explore the natural side of Bikaner in- The Bird-book of Bikaner

Coming soon….

Bikaner’s Merchants and their Mansions