The Golden Fort of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan is also called Sonar Kila.
This is a living fort, meaning people have been living here for the last 1000 years.
I spent a whole day last February walking around in the narrow lanes of the fort.
They were intermittently lined up with beautiful fabrics for sale.
Bed sheets, pillow covers, and T-shirts were common items.
Some lanes were so narrow, that bargaining customers and tourists blocked them completely.
But when I looked up, there was a smiling wall-mounted public clock.
Some lanes simply ended up on the outer side of the fort where I could see the bastions.
Also standing beside them were Kagaji flowers soaking in the sun on a winter afternoon.
The Jaisalmer fort has 99 bastions so several times, I ended up reaching one with a cannon.
This one was on the barren western side of the city where the Thar desert begins its vast expanse.
Some bastions with cannons overlooked the city.
Staring down the bastion I could see the streets, houses, and the fort’s parking.
On the far side, I could also see other bastions of the fort which itself is triangular in shape with 33 bastions on each flank.
Some streets in the Jaisalmer Fort were covered with temples and houses built over them.
While others were open to the sky and ample daylight seeps in in spite of the narrow gap.
Paintings like these were made announcing the marriage in the house.
More such amazing wall paintings are in this post.
Some houses in the lanes of the fort were richly decorated with fine carvings made in golden-yellow stone.
As I walked soaking in the beauty and calmness of the lanes, I reached a hotel at a dead end.
So, I simply walked back to the center of the fort which is a palace and attended the coronation of the prince of Jaisalmer.
Yet another lane was also a dead end where residents lived in houses drenched in peace and harmony for centuries.
Where to Stay
I stayed in the Sagar Guest House inside the Jaisalmer Fort.
This place also has got a rooftop restaurant with an amazing view of the city, palace, and the desert.
Other Attractions in Jaisalmer
