Excursions

BhandShah Jain Temple (5 km) - A Jain temple at Bikaner in Rajasthan: 16th century temples dedicated to Adinath and Parasvanath.

Camel Research Farm (8 km) - Eight kilometres from Bikaner, the government-managed Camel Research and Breeding Farm is only one of its kinds in Asia. The farm carries out breeding and training of camels.

Devi Kund (8 km) - Eight kilometres east of Bikaner lies Devi Kund, the site of a royal crematorium with several ornamented cenotaphs or chhatris built in the memory of the Bika dynasty rulers. The white marble chhatri of Maharaja Surat Singh is very imposing.

Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary (32 km) - Just 32 kilometres from Bikaner, the Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary is home to a variety of wild animals. The adjoining lake that reflects the charming pink sandstone palace and gardens contrasts so effectively with the surrounding scrubland where black back, chital, sambhar, chinkara, nilgai, wild boar, rabbits, partridges, quail, and Indian bustard abound, that you wonder if it's real, or a desert mirage. From the paved terrace, you see jungle animals come down to the water for a drink. This lake attracts millions of migratory birds in winter. The Maharajah of Bikaner held house parties for shooting grouse, duck, and wild boar here.

Shiv Bari Temple (6 km) - Built in the 19th century by Maharaja Doongar Singhji, the temple is encircled by a high wall. Beautiful paintings and a Nandi Bull facing the Shiva Lingam are the attractions of the temple.

Deshnok's Karni Mata Temple (30 km) - Near Bikaner in Rajasthan: Marble carvings and a silver door adorn this temple where rats are cared for and fed & worshipped.

Kalibanga (205 km) - Long before recorded history, many thousands of years ago, there was a city on the banks of a river called Saraswati. Agriculture flourished here, as did commerce and the industries of pottery, iron and beads. And then, the mighty river changed its course and finally dried up due to the immensity of the encroaching desert. The winds of change buried the city under the sands of time and for the next four thousand years or more, it lay entombed below the dunes as millenniums slipped silently by on the hot desert surface. And the ancient city was forever lost to memory. And then one day in 1962 it was rediscovered as much by accident as by design. After nearly 5000 years it was dug out from the womb of the earth near sand bound village in north Rajasthan called Kalibanga.
 

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