The Royal Cenotaphs (Chatris) at Devi Kund, Rajasthan

Devi Kund is located around 9 kms from Bikaner and houses the "Cenotaphs" the royal family of Bikaner.

A cenotaph is a monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose mortal remains are elsewhere. The cenotpahs or "Chatris" as they are called in Hindi are built in traditional Rajput architectural style. Some have been made of marble while are some of a red stone.


The cenotaph of Raja Surat Singh has been built entirely of marble and has exquisite Rajput paintings adorning the ceiling.


According to the information available at Devi Kund, the Cenotaph of a male has a vertical memorial slab, while that of a lady has foot marks engraved on a slab.



The Cenotaphs built for minors are called "Nada" and are simple structures without canopy. There is a small cavity on the platform in which milk and water is poured. We also saw some cenotaphs for stillborn children.


Most of the Cenotaphs are in old architectural style but a few later ones are in modern styles. One among these new ones was that of His Highness Karni Singh, the 23rd ruler of Bikaner.



How to reach Devi Kund:
You can take the local buses from Bikaner or hire an auto as we did.

The Karni Mata Rat Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan

The supreme attraction of the quaint little town, Deshnoke, is undoubtedly the temple of Karni Mata.

Infact there is nothing much to see here other than this unique temple which draws visitors from everywhere. People come here from all over Rajasthan and as far as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana to pay their tributes to Shri Karni Mata.


The lovely temple of Karni Mata is looked after by the “Charans” who are said to be the heirs of Karni Mata.



The story of the temple is as follows:

Karni Mata, born to an ordinary couple – Meha Ji and Dewal Bai, was married to Depaji in the year 1401. Karni considered an incarnation of Goddess Durga asked her husband to marry her younger sister, Gulab Bai, to produce an heir. Depaji and Gulab Bai had four sons – Naga, Puna, Shitha and Lakhan.




Story goes that Lakhan drowned in a pond while swimming and Karni asked Yama to bring him back to life. However, as his soul had already left his body, Yama brought him back to life as a rat. Since then all descendants of Karni are born as rats after leaving their human bodies. These rats then are reborn as Charans. And, the cycle continues.

That is the reason why the rats in the temple are so revered. If you step of and injure or kill a rat, you need to provide a silver replica of the rat to nullify the sin you have committed.


The temple is teeming with rats – big and small, young and old, grey ones and the occasional white ones. Spotting a white rat in this temple is said to bring good luck. At first glance, you may not see many rats. However, look closely and you will find then hiding in the specially created built-in holes on all the walls.

There - you can spot a tail hanging out from one of these openings….and look here – two eyes peeping out at you from a dark corner.

Inside the temple compound there is a locked up area with bare earth floor. Broken flagstones and giant overturned bowls dot the place. These look like the stuff used in the temple ages ago.


A very nice hiding place for the rats.




The sanctum of Karni Mata has many paintings of Karni Mata and rats adorning the walls. Devotees are not allowed into the inner shrine, which houses the statue of Karni Mata.


The rats are offered milk, coconut, fruits, grain, laddoos, peda and other sweets.


There are many huge bowls filled with milk and water placed strategically for the rats.


At any given point of time, you can see a group of rats drinking their fill.
The rats are not scared of humans and come quite close.




They even nibble on food placed on your palm. You can see them scampering around your feet as you enter the temple premises. You need to be alert and very careful lest you trample on one of these.


There is also a Karni Museum located right opposite the temple. It houses lovely paintings depicting Karni Mata and her life. The museum is open to all daily.

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Rajasthan, known for its forts, palaces and Havelis, is a major tourist destination in India. The state has a rich artistic culture and its own style of classical music and dance. It is also a shoppers paradise with beautiful tie and dye prints, embroidery, mirror work and handicrafts. It's a place that needs to be visited to appreciate its beauty.

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The Junagadh Fort in Bikaner, Rajasthan

The most prominent attraction in Bikaner is undoubtedly the Junagad Fort. The first place our travel guide took us to was this fort. The Junagad Fort, surrounded by a towering wall and a moat makes for an imposing structure.



The Fort has never been conquered. Raja Rai Singh, a general of the Mughal emperor Akbar, built the fort in 1593 A.D. The fort was built using red sandstone and has elegantly carved windows and balconies.



The fort has two gates -
the east facing main gate called the Karan Pol (gate) and
the Suraj Pol, also known as the “Sun gate”.



Near the main gate you can see the majestic statues of the two guardians of the fort - Jaimal and Patta.



The Junagad fort complex houses a number of palaces within. Each of these palaces have been built successive kings and one can notice the distinct style of each era.

The main palaces are:

The Chandra Mahal (The Moon Palace) with its carved marble panels, mirrors and dazzling paintings is the most beautiful of all.



Phool Mahal – It is a coronation hall decorated with beautifully cut glasses and mirrors.



Karan Mahal - was built to commemorate the Rajput’s victory over Aurangzeb.

Anup Mahal – the multi storied Mahal has walls covered with red and gold lacquer work. It looks so beautiful when the lights are lit. This was used as the governance chambers.




The Badal Mahal (The Cloud Palace) is known for its painted walls that show a painting of Radha-Krishna surrounded by the blue clouds.

Har Mandir is the place used by the royal families for worshipping.

There is also a museum inside fort. On display, here is a magnificent collection of manuscripts, jewellery, arms etc.











There is also a Haviland plane on display here.
Among the many war souvenir that the British Government presented Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner with in recognition of the services rendered by the Bikaner state forces led by him during the First World War, were the shot down parts of two Haviland War planes.



Maharaja Karni Singh with the help of the local artisans got the broken parts of the Haviland plane restored. He then put it on display in the Vikram Vilas Durbar in Junagad Fort.

Mount Abu - The lone hill station in Rajasthan

Mt Abu, the only hill station in the state of Rajasthan is the highest peak in the Aravalli Ranges and is located at an altitude of 1200m.

The highest peak here is the Guru Shikar, which has a temple of Guru Dattatreya. At a little distance is another peak on which stands the temple of Ahilya, the mother of Dattatreya. The view from Guru Shikar is spectacular. To reach Guru Shikar you need to travel around 7kms on the Dilwara-Achalgad Road.

Mt Abu is also famous for the Jain temples, the most famous being the Dilwara Jain temple. The temple like other Jain temples has exquisite marble carvings. It looks simple form outside but the interiors are beautifully carved - the work of extremely skilled artisans.



There are five main sections inside the temple.
1. Sri Mahavir Swami Shrine- devoted to Lord Mahavir.
2. Sri Adinath Shrine - this is the oldest of all the sections and is dedicated to Sri Adinath, the first Jain teerthankar.
3. Sri Parsavanath Shrine - devoted to lord Parsavanath and has four mandapas.
4. Peetalhar Shrine - called so because most of the statues here were built with "peetal” - brass. This temple is dedicated to Sri Rishabhdaoji
5. The Luna Vasahi Shrine - dedicated to Lord Nemi Nath. An unique feature of this temple is the "Rag Mandapa" which houses 360 tiny idols of Jain tirthankaras.
The temple is open to public from 12-3pm. Jains can visit it in the morning session too. No entry fees. Cameras and mobiles are not allowed inside. Hence, I could only get a picture of the temple from the outside.


Achalagad Fort - Enroute to Guru Shikar, around 7 kms from Mt Abu town is the Achalgad fort which was built by Rana Kumbha of Mewar. It houses several Jain temples and the Kaninath temple.




Another temple - the Achleshwar temple near the foothills of Achalgad is famous for the Nandi which it houses. The Nandi is made up of 5 metals(Panchdhatu) and is said to weigh more than 4 tonnes.



Nakki Lake - situated within walking distance of the main market in Mt Abu, is a picturesque spot. Surrounded by rocky hills, it is the favorite spot for families and visitors to spend their evenings.
Legend has it that the Devatas dug this lake up with their nails (nakh) hence it got the name Nakki lake :)



There are many temples in Mt Abu in addition to the Jain temples. There is the Adhar Devi temple, the Raghuntah ji temple and the Durga temple. The world headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris is also located in Mt Abu.

Trevor’s Tank - Around 5 kms from Mt Abu market is the Trevor's tank built by a British engineer with the same name.


At Trevor’s Tank you can spend time relaxing at the tank. The tank was used once upon a time to breed crocodiles. You can trek up to the vantage viewpoints inside the park.



If you are lucky you might spot some birds. We saw lot of cages, which were no longer in use. Trevor’s Tank forms a part of the Wild life sanctuary in Mt Abu.



Evenings can be spent at the Sunset Point. There was a mad rush to reach the Sunset point and it looked like that the entire residents of Mt Abu had converged on the Sunset Point. Lot of hawkers selling corn-of-cob, chat items, roasted groundnuts, fruits, popcorn dot the stretch to the Sunset point. The Sunset point itself was not very spectacular. Can give it a miss.



Instead you can go to the Anadara Point which looked less freqented by visitors and offered a good view.



There are numerous eateries in Mt Abu - from the roadside vendors to the star hotels. Same goes for accommodation too.

Bikes are available on hire. While hiring bikes make sure you take just sufficient fuel. If needed carry extra fuel in a bottle so that you can return it if not used. Once you fill up the fuel tank and incase you haven’t been able to use up the fuel, they don’t refund the money.

There are lot of options for Shoppers too - from the bargain shopping to the luxury malls.



Overall a nice place to spend a couple of days.

MOUNT ABU
Tourist Reception Center
Opp. Bus Stand,
Tel : 02974-3151
Tourist Information Counter
Railway Station, Abu Road