Thar Osian Desert Gangaram Ki Dhani Homestay - Take only Memories, Leave only Footprints

The year 2020 was full of restrictions and laziness. But before the year ends, we have taken ourselves out on the expedition to explore the clean and fresh Nature, the one that is not disturbed by humans in last 7-9months.

One such place which I selected was the blue city Jodhpur and the explored the least visited place - "The Osian Desert"

Deer spotted during sunrise

Osian, the meaning of this word is Little Deer and we were lucky to spot one. 

During the Christmas weekend of 2020 we were in Jodhpur for 5days.

It was day 3 and we wanted to go out for a back pack journey and this is where we decided to go to the outskirts and away from the city of Jodhpur.

All my budget was planned and I had to explore the least visited places around. After connecting with the Manager at the Hotel, we got to know about "Osian Dessert".

It was Day 1 of our exploration:

Remember one thing -  When in Rajasthan, always bargain 😉

We planned to pay a visit to Osiyan Temple, a temple of goddess Shri Sachchiyay Mataji (beware of the tramp kids as they may be running after you for money.)

Finally, we are out from Old Jodhpur's narrow city roads. 

The road of our journey to the Osian Temple was smooth and empty. If you love driving, you will definitely enjoy it here. People here are really patient unlike in Mumbai, where everyone wants to reach early - "Mumbai mai har kisiko pehle pahuchna hota hai"

We reached the Osiyan Temple, where we weren't allowed to click any photographs, but the inner structure was intact and amazing.

It is said that the temple was built by the Parmar King Upendre for his Kuldevi in the 9th to 10th century CE.

Maa Jagat Bhawani Shri Sachchiyay Mataji was a daughter of the Asura king Pauloma and historically called Shri Osiya Mataji. Also known as Indrani, Aindrila, Mahendri, Pulomaja and Poulomi is the goddess of beauty in Hinduism.

The caretaker are very good in keeping the premises clean and disciplined. One thing I noticed was they avoided the crowd at shoe stand.

You take off your shoes at one side of the temple on the higher elevation and while returning take your shoes back from the back of the temple. But do they carry your shoes all the way to the back of the temple? No, definitely not. They have a slider from where they push the bags of your shoes and then they get collected at rear area of the temple.

There were many small shops outside the temple, where people buy products with the thought of helping people of Osian through their deed (quality wise product are of no good). But hold on, that’s the last place where you will actually see the market, post this place its just village and desert.

 

Then we headed towards the village, where we saw multiple house and beautiful ancient sculptures.

After a drive of around 6km from the Osiyan Temple and stealing a carrot from the farms we reached a place where our camels were waiting for us.

The cameleer made us comfortable and acquainted with the camels there. We hopped on the camel and within a split of a second we reached the elevation of ~8feets.

On our expedition to the village, we took a camel ride of around 45mins and had a lot of fun and discussion about the age, name, food and tradition of the camels. My camels name was Pappu.

These huge animals can walk so easily in the desert and can also walk in the thrones. We got multiple scratches from the long-throned trees of the dessert, but we were sad about the hurt the camels might be bearing while walking in those trees. But later the cameleer ensured us that they aren't getting the hurt as we feel as their skin is rough and they are used to it. (ensure you wear a Jeans during the camel ride)

We reached the homestay where we were allocated the mud house to stay.

    

As soon as we reached the hut around 3PM, I was amazed with the Khaat, the one I love a lot. The most intriguing thing was the birds chirping in our huts. We were welcomed with the incredible chirping song of the sparrows which we haven't heard in long time at Mumbai.

We got freshen up and soon the unlimited hot lunch was ready. The taste was blissful. Enjoyed the authentic taste of desert food without any garam masala. The Chilli-Garlic chutney was lip smacking. (Let me tell you about their traditions, they will not eat food until their guest had it and also, they will not sit with you and eat. Its only after their guest are done with lunch, they get ready for it) We didn't come to know about this tradition until the next day. And this implies to each and every family member. So, ensure you have your food on time.

 At 5:30PM we got ready for an audacious Sunset Jeep safari ride which was another superb experience. Omji the Jeep driver was so skilled that he asked us to stick our head up and gave us a roller coaster ride with the jeep. Full speed, hopping vehicle, heading deep in the desert.

There has always been a wow moment in all my treks and travels, and here it was the nelgai (blue buffaloes) chasing each other and crossed our Jeep in full speed.

PC: Daa at Sunset point

 After reaching the sunset point, we were fascinated with the beauty of the Sun and desert. Immediately after the sunset, we started feeling the chills and realized the importance of sun in keeping temperature hot, which we normally don't feel in metro areas.

There were kids in the location along with whom we sang the song and danced, and it filled my heart that these kids weren't asking for money, but for a pen. So, the next time you are in Rajasthan desert, it’s a request to carry few pens and pencils along with you as they are way too far from the reach of these basic things :)

We were back to our mud house and laid down on the khatiya in the open porch and started gazing at the stars which were visible from 6:30PM onwards. We sat next to the bonfire and started exchanging stories about the travels with other travellers who drive all the way from Delhi. The villagers shared their stories, about the tradition the place. The chipku moment for the Kejri Tree the most worshiped tree of Rajasthan. The Royda tree which releases oxygen at night. That night till 12AM we were experiencing the Meteor Showers and made one common wish, to experience perfect Sand dunes in the morning safari.

And the wish came true;

Next morning, we woke-up at 5:50AM, sipped a cup of coffee and left for our expedition at 6:05AM. We reached at the perfect timing of sunrise.

We enjoyed the natural roller coaster Sand Dune, the real dunes. We welcomed the sun from the barren desert and saw it turning into gold. We spotted a deer running right in front of the Sun, an awesome moment. We had lot of fun, photography and dance. We relished the beauty and serene desert vibes together. We were jumping, capturing slow motion videos, and were the only group dancing in the desert. Soon many admirers came and the desert was no more silent. We returned back to our Mud House and quickly packed our belongings and had heavy, tasty, lip smacking breakfast (Alu paratha, Dahi and chutney)

We apologized the villagers considering that if any of our deeds might have disturbed them. We left the Osian "Little Deer" Desert with all good memories to cherish forever.

On our way back, we again took the carrots, but this time they weren't stolen but received on request ;)