This article is about the municipality in Rajasthan, India. For its namesake district, seeJaisalmer district. For the historical region and state, seeJaisalmer state.
Jaisalmer(pronunciation)ⓘ, nicknamedThe Golden city, is a city in the north-westernIndian state ofRajasthan, located 575 kilometres (357 mi) west of the state capitalJaipur, in the heart of theThar Desert.[6] It serves as the administrative headquarters ofJaisalmer district. It is a former medieval trading center and the historic capital of thekingdom of Jaisalmer, founded in 1156 byRawal Jaisal of theBhati clan ofRajputs.[7] Jaisalmer stands on a ridge of yellowishsandstone and is crowned by theWorld Heritage Site,Jaisalmer Fort, a sprawling hilltop citadel supported by 99 bastions.[8] This fort contains a royal palace and several ornateJain temples. Many of the houses and temples of both the fort and of the town below are built of finely sculptured yellow sandstone. The town has a population, including the residents of the fort, of about 78,000. Jaisalmer ranked 9th onBooking.com's Top 10 The Most Welcoming cities in the world. It is the only Indian city on the list.[9][10]
Jaisalmer was founded by Jaisal Singh, popularly known asRawal Jaisal,[11] in 1156 AD.[12] It is named after its founder, with "Jaisal" representing the king's name and the term "Mer" or "Meru" is ofSanskrit origin, signifying a mountain or a high, prominent place,[13] and it has been historically used in the names of various geographical features and landmarks, likeAjmer.[14]
The state of Jaisalmer had its foundations in what remains of the Empire ruled by the Bhati dynasty. Early Bhati rulers ruled over large empire stretching fromGhazni[15] in modern-day Afghanistan toSialkot,Lahore andRawalpindi in modern-day Pakistan[16] toBhatinda,Muktsar andHanumangarh in modern-day India.[17] The empire crumbled over time because of continuous invasions from Central Asia. According to Satish Chandra, the Hindu Shahis of Afghanistan made an alliance with the Bhati rulers of Multhan, because they wanted to end the slave raids made by the Turkic ruler of Ghazni, however the alliance was defeated by Alp Tigin in 977 CE.[18] Bhati dominions continued to be shifted towards the South as they ruled Multan, then finally got pushed into Cholistan and Jaisalmer where Rawal Devaraja builtDera Rawal / Derawar.[19] Jaisalmer was the new capital founded in 1156 byRawal Jaisal and the state took its name from the capital.
Traditionally, in the Middle Ages, the main source of income for the kingdom was levies oncaravans, but the economy was heavily affected whenBombay emerged as a major port and sea trade replaced the traditional land routes. Ranjit Singh and Bairi Sal Singh attempted to turn around the economic decline but the dramatic reduction in trade impoverished the kingdom. A severedrought and the resultingfamine from 1895 to 1900, during the reign of Salivahan Singh, only made matters worse by causing widespread loss of the livestock that the increasingly agriculturally based kingdom relied upon.
The attempts of Jawahir Singh (1914–1949) at modernisation were also not entirely successful in turning the kingdom's economy around, and the drylands of Jaisalmer remained backward compared with other regions ofRajputana, especially the neighbouring state ofJodhpur. Nonetheless, the extensive water storage and supply, sanitation, and health infrastructures developed in the 1930s by the prime minister Brijmohan Nath Zutshi provided significant relief during the severe droughts of 1941 and 1951. During 1930–1947, Jawahir Singh and his ministers also promoted technical education and the academic disciplines of civil and mechanical engineering in the state.
After the departure of the British from India in 1947, Jawahir Singh signed anInstrument of Accession to the newUnion of India, while retaining some internal autonomy until the 1950s.
Jailsalmer State (orange) within Rajputana (yellow), 1909.Jaisalmer Flag
Jaisalmer has ahot arid climate (KöppenBWh), and is thus prone to extremes of temperature. The temperature varies greatly from day to night in both summer and winter. The maximum summer temperature is around 40 °C (104 °F) while the minimum is 25 °C (77 °F). The maximum winter temperature is usually around 23.6 °C (74.5 °F) and the minimum is −5 °C (23 °F). The highest ever recorded temperature was 50 °C (122 °F);[21] the lowest ever recorded temperature being −5.9 °C (21.4 °F).[22] Temperatures of up to 52.4 °C (126.3 °F) have been recorded near the Pakistani border, but the standard conditions of this temperature recording remain unverified.[23]
The average rainfall is 256.5 millimetres (10.10 in),[24] although as with all of northwest India it is almost exclusively confined tothe monsoon from June to September and extremely variable from year to year.[25][26] As little as 20.8 millimetres or 0.82 inches was recorded in 1969, but as much as 555.7 millimetres or 21.88 inches in 2006, of which 440.6 millimetres (17.35 in) fell in August alone.[27] The highest daily rainfall is 204.8 millimetres or 8.06 inches on 16 August 1973. Even during the monsoon rainfall typically occurs only on two or three days per month, and then for only a few hours each rainy day. It is estimated that in an average year rain falls in Jaisalmer for a total of fewer than twenty hours.[28][29]
Climate data for Jaisalmer (1991–2020, extremes 1948–present)
According to the 2011 census, Jaisalmer had a population of 65,471. Around 90% of the population is Hindu, 8.20% is Muslim and the remaining are Sikhs, Christians, and Jains.
In recent years, there has been a growing focus on renewable energy in the region. Jaisalmer has been home to variouswind andsolar energy projects, taking advantage of the ample sunlight and wind resources in the desert.
Musicians and dancers are also a major cultural export from Jaisalmer to the rest of the world. Manganiyar musicians have played the world over, andQueen Harish,[37] the dancing desert drag queen, has toured the world over and has featured in international movies.
Jaisalmer is also known for its leathermessenger bags, made from wild camels native to the area.
Built in 1156 by the Bhati Rajput ruler Jaisal,Jaisalmer Fort, situated on Meru Hill and named asTrikoot Garh has been the scene of many battles. Its massivesandstone walls are a pale yellow colour during the day, turning to a darker gold as the sun sets. The famous Indian film directorSatyajit Ray wrote a detective novel and later turned it into a film −Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress) which was based on this fort. About a quarter of city's population still live inside the fort. The main attractions inside the fort are the Raj Mahal (Royalpalace),Jain temples and the Laxminath temple.
There areseven Jain temples in total which are situated within the Jaisalmer fort built during the 12th and 15th centuries. Among these temples, the biggest is theParaswanath Temple; the others areChandraprabhu temple,Rishabdev temple,Shitalnath Temple,Kunthunath Temple, andShantinath Temple. Known for their exquisite work of art and architecture that was predominant in themedieval era the temples are built out of yellow sandstone and have intricate engravings on them.
Jaisalmer has some of the oldest libraries of India which contain the rarest of the manuscripts and artefacts of Jain tradition. There are manypilgrimage centres around Jaisalmer such asLodhurva Jain temple (Lodarva), Amarsagar, Brahmsar andPokharan.
Chandraprabhu Jain Temple inside the Jaisalmer Fort
Jain Temple inside the Jaisalmer Fort
Ceiling of Jain temple inside the Jaisalmer Fort
Carving on the wall of Jain Temple, Jaisalmer Fort
Gadisar Lake – Excavated in 1367 by Rawal Gadsi Singh, it is a scenic rainwater lake surrounded by the small temples and shrines of Amar Sagar. Earlier, this lake was used to be the main water source of Jaisalmer. Due to an increased water demand for agriculture, the lake is increasingly threatened with drying up.[38]
Tanot Mata, a historical temple near Indo-Pak border.
Ramdevra, a village in Jaisalmer, is named after Baba Ramdevji, a Tanwar Rajput and a saint who took Samādhi in 1384 CE, at the age of 33 years. He is worshiped today by many social groups of India as Ishta-deva.
Camel rides in JaisalmerA jumping camel in Desert Festival
Desert Festival of Jaisalmer is the most awaited and famous cultural and colourful event of Rajasthan. Camel races, Turban-tying and Mr. Desert competitions are organised. It is held in the month of February every year. The festival showcases Rajasthani folk songs and dance and it is very attractive to foreign tourists. Gair and Fire dancers which are the major attraction of the Jaisalmer desert festival celebrations. This is the best time to visit Jaisalmer to witness performing arts like Kalbelia dances and folk songs and music.
Jaisalmer railway station runs daily trains between Jaisalmer and Jaipur, through which it is connected to Delhi and other cities all over India. This station comes under Jodhpur (JU) division of theNorthwestern Railway (NWR). Additionally, there exists a luxury tourist train known asPalace on Wheels, which covers the major tourist destinations of Rajasthan, including Jaisalmer.
Sonar Kella (1974), Satyajit Ray's Bengali film, based on his eponymous novel featuring his creation, the detectiveFeluda, was based in Jaisalmer and surrounding areas.[41][42]
Hothat Brishti (1998), a Bengali film, was shot in Jaisalmer.
^"District Census Handbook – Jaisalmer"(PDF).censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved11 February 2021.See page 24 'Jaisalmer (M) – 62.38', the '38,401' figure is for the 'Jaisalmer – District Total'
^Camberlin, Pierre (9 February 2010). "More variable tropical climates have a slower demographic growth".Climate Research.
^Dewar, Robert E.; Wallis, James R. (December 1999). "Geographical Patterning of Interannual Rainfall Variability in the Tropics and Near Tropics: An L-Moments Approach".Journal of Climate.12:3457–3466.
Bhati, Hari Singh. 2002.ANNALS OF JAISALMER: A Pre-Mediaeval History. Kavi Prakashan, Bikaner.
Gahlot, Sukhvirsingh. 1992.RAJASTHAN: Historical & Cultural. J. S. Gahlot Research Institute, Jodhpur.
Somani, Ram Vallabh. 1993.History of Rajasthan.
Tod, James & Crooke, William. 1829.Annals & Antiquities ofRajasthan or the Central and Western Rajput States of India. 3 Vols. Reprint: Low Price Publications, Delhi. 1990.ISBN81-85395-68-3 (set of 3 vols.)
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