http://travelindiathroughmyeyes.com/bikaner-a-fascinating-city/
The mere mention of the name Rajasthan conjures up the images of deserts, sand dunes & camels. It transports us to the historical, beautiful land of the maharajas, majestic forts, magnificent palaces, mini palaces like havelis, hospitable people in colourful turbans known as pagdi and women attired in colourful lehngas, numerous festivals and folk lores eulogizing the bravery & chivalry of the Rajputs and tales of the acumen, foresight & adaptability of the merchants who amassed fortunes in far away lands and built their havelis here!!
I was on my first visit to Bikaner in November 2017 and during my two days stay in this city, I got the feeling that this city exemplifies all the above attributes and best represents quintessential Rajasthan !! Jaipur, Udaipur & Jodhpur are more popular with the tourists. They hog all the limelight and have turned commercial – Bikaner is yet to attract that sort of recognition and tourist traffic. This in some ways has been a boon because it has helped the city retain its character, the slow pace and the old world charm !! During the year, Bikaner sees both the extremes in the climate. The weather in November was perfect, just a tinge of the severe cold that the city experiences. What a fascinating trip it turned out to be – as I reminisce my trip after three years my yearning to visit it again only grows stronger.
Brief history of Bikaner:
Rao Bikaji, the son of Maharaja Rao Jodha of Rathore clan of Jodhpur was an enterprising, brave warrior. Hurt by a stray comment made by his father, he decided to carve out a separate kingdom for himself. He left Jodhpur in 1465 along with his uncle with only 500 soldiers & 100 cavalrymen. The region of Bikaner during that period was an uninhabited vast expanse of sand in the midst of Thar desert. It was an arid & rocky scrubland known as ‘Jangladesh’ under the control of the Jat chieftains who were squabbling among each other. Rao Bikaji ventured out there and prevailed upon the Jats and chose to establish his kingdom there and founded the city of Bikaner around 1488. As per local belief, when he was on way to Bikaner, he halted at Deshnoke and met Karni Mata and sought her blessings. She blessed him and told him that he would be successful in all his endeavors.
Bikaner is strategically located with Thar desert on one side and the Aravalli hill range on the other. The place where Rao Bika wanted to build his fort & palace belonged to Nera or Nehra Jat who agreed to give the land to the king, only if the name of the place would be linked to his community’s name also, to which the king agreed. Hence, the name of the place was kept Bika…ner – Bika from Rao Bika and Ner from Nera !! Bikaner was like an oasis in the desert as underground spring water was available here and traders used to halt here as it fell on the important trade route from Gujarat coast to Central Asia. Soon it developed into a trading hub.
Upon the death of his father Rao Jodha in 1488 Rao Bika stormed the Mehrangarh Fort at Jodhpur unsuccessfully – an event that was to lead to 200 years of intermittent wars between Marwar and Bikaner.
Junagadh fort – it’s history & development
Rao Bika built a stone fort in Bikaner. The sixth ruler Raja Rai Singh (who ruled from 1571 to 1611) accepted the suzerainty of the Mughals under Akbar and later Jahangir. In return they made him a high rank army general of the Mughals and gave him the jagirs of Gujarat and Burhanpur. He won several battles and expanded the kingdom and earned lot of revenue for Bikaner kingdom. With this he built a sprawling new fort with palaces inside it and named it Chintamani fort. The earlier fort was now called Junagadh fort but only some walls remain of that now. The later rulers kept on adding newer palaces or renovating the earlier ones in Chintamani fort. Maharaja Karan Singh ruled Bikaner from 1631 till 1639 and built the Karan Mahal Palace. The palace was modified later by the succeeding rulers. Maharaja Anup Singh ruled from 1669 till 1698 and added a ‘Zanana’ quarter to the palace, which was a dwelling for the ladies of the royal family. Karan Mahal was refurbished into ‘Deewan-e-Aam’ by Anup Singh and was renamed Anup Mahal. Chandra Mahal was renovated by Maharaja Gaj Singh who ruled from 1746 till 1787. In 1818, during the rule of Maharaja Surat Singh, Bikaner accepted the sovereignty of the British. After that, a lot of money was invested in renovating the Junagarh Fort. Badal Mahal was added by Maharaja Dungar Singh in 1872 AD. Maharaja Ganga Singh added Durbar Hall which has been converted into a museum today.
This sprawling fort besides housing some of the most beautiful palaces of Rajasthan which in many aspects are more majestic than the palaces of Jaipur, Jodhpur & Udaipur has beautiful paintings and mirror work. This fort was never captured. The rulers of Bikaner were wealthy as they accepted the sovereignty of the Mughals who in turn made them Generals in their army and gave several rich Jagirs to them through which they earned a steady stream of revenue and built lavish palaces!! While majority of the other forts in Rajasthan are built on hill tops, Junagadh became an exception as it is almost at the ground level.
It was an enchanting affair going through the fort & palaces because we had no prior inkling about its magnificence, splendour & craftsmanship !!
I am sure this picture gallery would inspire you to visit it at the earliest opportunity !!
Lalgarh Palace
When in Bikaner do not miss out on visiting the opulent Lalgarh Palace. It was built between 1896 to 1925 by Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner supported by the British. This palace was designed by Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, the well known British Architect. The wing called Laxminiwas Palace was completed in 1902. It had modern facilities such as Bar, Billiards Room & Cards Room. It was laid out in well manicured lawns. The palace epitomises the love for art & architecture and the high taste of the Maharaja who personally supervised the construction !! Maharaja Ganga Singh named it Lalgarh Palace in memomy of his father Maharaja Lal Singh. It had two wings. Maharaja Ganga Singhji had a long reign from 1887 to 1943. He was a well educated man of very refined taste, well versed in English and became the favourite of all the British Viceroys. Some illustrious guests who have stayed in Lalgarh Palace include King George V & Queen Mary, Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France, Lord Curzon, Lord Irwin, Lord Hardinge – All Viceroys of British India at different periods in the early half of twentieth century.
Today one portion of Lalgarh palace complex operates as a museum while two wings operate as separate Luxury Heritage Hotels. It may be a perfect place to stay to get the feel of royalty !! The tariff here is also lower than that of palace hotels at Udaipur & Jaipur while the service is believed to be impeccable. We had stayed at a friend’s place so missed the opportunity of staying here.
Well the other option to visit it is as a tourist and we chose this option. There is an entry charge of Rs 200 per head and an escort took us around the Bar room, Billiards room & the Banquet hall. All the rooms look imposing with the hunting trophies on display on the walls (heads of the animals killed in Shikaar by the Maharajas). We had tea/coffee & sandwiches in the Coffee Shop and the entry charge was deducted from our bill.
Bhandasar Jain temple
The other attractions of Bikaner include the 500 years old beautiful Jain temple known as Bhandasar temple dedicated to the 5th Jain Tirthankar Sumatinath. The ceiling has beautiful paintings depicting scenes from mythology and the pillars have sculptures made in wood.
Just behind the Bhandasar temple is the beautiful 450 years old Laxmipathi temple built by one of the rulers. This Vishnu temple was the favourite temple of the Maharajas. There is beautiful carving on the silver doors in the temple. Unfortunately photography was not allowed there.
Shiv Bari
Next was the visit to 125 years old Shiva temple known as Shiv Bari. It is housed in a big compound with tall walls all around and an imposing entrance that gives it the feel of a garh (fort).
Devi Kund
Devi kund is the place where the cenotaphs (chattris) of the Maharajas & Maharanis are located. They are built in typical Rajputana style.
Camel Research & Breeding Centre
We had an amazing experience on visiting the National Center on Camel Research on the outskirts of Bikaner where wonderful research work is going on developing the various breeds of camels. It was wonderful to watch the camels at close quarters and see the calves feeding on their mothers and also see the milking process. We also took a camel cart ride. There is a picture gallery that exhibits the various breeds of camels. I also feasted on a kulfi made with camel milk at the milk parlour. My wife did not dare to be adventurous !!!
Just adjacent to the Camel Research Centre is the Equinox Farm that has the best breeds of horses. We couldn’t visit it due to time constraint.
Bikaner – a foodies delight.
Bikaner is famous for a number of sweets & snack items. Haldiram has made Bikaner Sev Bhujia famous through out the world. Among sweets the most well known are Ghevar & Fini (my favourite) and surprisingly Rasgullas. You can’t get the taste of Bikaneri Fini anywhere else. The famous brands that have originated out of Bikaner are Haldiram, Bikanerwala & Bikaji. Each one of them has an annual turnover of almost 1 billion rupees. Haldiram family divided into three branches and set up their separate entities at Delhi, Nagpur & Kolkata. Bikanerwala has operations in many countries and Bikaji is famous in Western India. Haldiram still has its old small shop in the old city that had started operation more than 83 years ago. They still prepare 50 packets of fresh sev everyday and sell it at their old shop manned by a single person and it gets sold within one hour. While the entire country loves the packaged bhujia sev, the local people are fond of hot fresh thick variety of sev. Hot samosas, khasta kachoris & jalebi shops can be found at every street corner and they are always crowded. I tasted each one of them followed by a glass of lassi and they were just superb. Bikaneri Papad is also famous. Rajasthani food such as gatte ki sabzi, bajre ki khichdi, ker sangari, badi ki sabji are the other delicacies one can relish in Bikaner. I bought 5 kgs of Fini at one of the famous sweets shop and he agreed to courier the boxes to my address at nominal additional cost.
Shopping in Bikaner
Bikaner is well known for jootis & mojris made with genuine leather. There are several shops selling them. While I picked up a pair of mojris, my wife picked up two pairs of jootis.
Kundan or Jadau jewellery: Did you know that Bikaner is famous for Kundan (also known as Jadau) art of jewellery ? This intricate jewellery requires skilled labour and is a handmade piece of artistic talent- the talent of Kundan work has been passed from one generation to another. No North Indian arranged marriage is complete without a sparkling Kundan or Jadau set for the bride. The intricate Polki sets give a regal look. The following pics have been downloaded from the net:
The legend of Dhola Maru: till
date their love story is recollected in Rajasthan and more so in
Bikaner through folk songs, couplets & ballads. Dhola was the Prince
of Narwar and Maru was the Princess of Poogal of Bikaner kingdom who
got married in their childhood and then remained in their respective
kingdoms. This fact was not revealed to Dhola when he grew up while Maru
grew up dreaming of Dhola and kept waiting for him. To know how they
met despite many obstacles read their story on the link
https://www.ohmyrajasthan.com/lovestory-of-rajasthan-dhola-maru
You must be wondering where is my description of the famous havelis of Bikaner !! No visit to Bikaner is complete without taking a heritage walk in the walled city that houses some beautiful & magnificent havelis and paying obeisance at Karni Mata temple at Deskone (more popularly known as Rat temple) 30 kms from Bikaner. Well I thought of covering them here but then I thought of writing a separate blog on them to be able to do full justice to all the attractions of Bikaner. So friends have patience till next week !!
There are direct trains from New Delhi, Jaipur and Jodhpur to Bikaner that take about 12 hours, 6.30 hours & 3 hours respectively. Bikaner is also connected to other cities by train. By road Bikaner is 335 kms from Jaipur and 205 kms from Jodhpur.
There are several options to stay at Bikaner – besides the heritage luxury palace hotels, there are some havelis which have been converted into heritage boutique hotels. There are several budget hotels too.
If you found my travelogue interesting then please leave your comment in the comments section below.
Please follow my Instagram accounts @rameshkabraexplorer and @artheritageofindia_rameshkabra
For any feedback or queries you can reach me at rameshkabra1956@gmail.com
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