| Life in the searing heat of the summer months of the medieval ages, once flourished within the 99 bastions of the fort of Jaisalmer. Rising from the sands, it merges with the sand dunes,
resembling from a distance a giant ant hill. Closer, the bastions show up more formidable, vast chunks of honey-coloured stone blocks carved to dovetail together. Within these bastions is a complete township
that consists of a palace complex, the havelis of rich Jain merchants carved with an incredibly light touch, & Hindu temples. Jaisalmer was founded in the 12th century by the Bhati Rajputs who shifted here from
Lodurva. Placed strategically on the trade route along which ancient caravans passed, Jaisalmer soon became rich, so much so that the merchants, who also served as ministers in the royal courts, came to
command more power than the rulers themselves. No wonder the large mansions of the merchants, built adjacent to each other in the nature of medieval desert cultures, are so profusely decorated that eh
palace, in comparison, appears to pale. While the havelies & the palace, along with the temples, will warrant the mandatory visits, Jaisalmer is incredible for the experiment it brings alive of a
medieval township caught in a time warp, as you move up its cobbled streets. Its incredible sculptors were Muslim craftsmen who were induced, on their journeys to the patrons in other parts of India, to
stay. The result is an architectural purity that, because of Jaisalmer's incredible isolation, is not seen elsewhere. |
