#khichan

India celebrated World Environment Day by designating two ecologically vital wetlands in Rajasthan—Menar Wetland Complex and Khichan Wetland—as Ramsar Sites, marking them as Wetlands of International Importance. MENAR: A MODEL OF COMMUNITY-LED CONSERVATION Menar Wetland Complex (Ramsar Site No. 2567), located in Udaipur district, is a freshwater monsoon wetland formed by Braham talab, Dhand…

India celebrated World Environment Day by designating two ecologically vital wetlands in Rajasthan—Menar Wetland Complex and Khichan Wetland—as Ramsar Sites, marking them as Wetlands of International Importance. MENAR: A MODEL OF COMMUNITY-LED CONSERVATION Menar Wetland Complex (Ramsar Site No. 2567), located in Udaipur district, is a freshwater monsoon wetland formed by Braham talab, Dhand…

Flying Through The Sands

I took the in-room guide from Nakul to read about Osian. It was described as Khajuraho of Rajasthan. Poorly shot images failed to hide the beauty of these carved sandstone temples. And suddenly, another listed attraction caught my eye. Khichan. I had heard of the place. I knew what made it a tourist attraction. And I was pleasantly surprised it was just a day trip away from our hotel in Khimsar!

WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes

We had just checked in to the luxuriously appointed WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes and were sipping tea in our room, musing about next day’s plan. Stumbling upon those innocuous entries in the in-room guide, coupled with my infectious enthusiasm, the group warmed up to my proposed plan of visiting Osian and Khichan the next day.

The Route Map of our Road Trip

But Nakul, a fellow Taurean, is not easily persuaded. My friend for the last 35 years, he needs to feel convinced from within before he accedes to any proposal. As a yoga teacher, his body is quite flexible, but as a person, he can be extremely rigid!

‘We need to check with the locals about this trip,’ he said.

So, the tentative plan, drawn between sips of tea, now just needed some local affirmation.

After tea, as we stepped out of our room, the hotel’s GM greeted us on the well-manicured poolside lawns. During our short interaction, he approved of our trip plan and added ‘You must try and be back to view the sunset from our well-maintained sand dunes’! ‘Well-maintained sand dunes, for Chrissake! I smirked, but I refrained from commenting. I did not want the plan jeopardised.

Check them out!

Khichan, here we come

With three things on the agenda, and ‘Google Maps’ as our beacon, we drove down the narrow but well-tarred rural Rajasthan road. The distance from Khimsar to Khichan is around 120 km. The traffic was sparse and we were mostly making good speed, slowed only by camel carts and tractors once in a way. The desert vista hardly looked like one – there was greenery all around. The Israeli magic of drip irrigation!

As we turned into a narrow lane that led to a vacant area doubling up as parking, a young man in local attire stepped out of the ‘parking booth’, charged us Rs.30 per person and raised the barrier pole to allow our vehicle to pass.

Armed with cameras, water bottles, and confused looks, we walked back to the booth. Noticing our expression, the young man helpfully waved us towards some steps leading to a gap in a wall.

Awe-struck tourists taking in the flyers!

The Khichan Attraction

As we climbed and entered the gap, the sight left us spellbound. We found ourselves on a small hillock that curved the way golfers would call ‘dog-leg right’. On both sides of this mound, there lay a grey-ish amoeboid water body. The banks farther away from us were carpeted with thousands of birds constantly buzzing around in a slow Brownian motion! This was it. This is what we had come to see. The cloud-grey and slate-grey mass of Demoiselles Cranes that descend in hordes on this little dot on the map called Khichan.

Formation flying by the cranes!

It all started with a humble pigeon-feeding initiative by a local villager in the 1970s. That year, around 100 cranes landed here. That number grew to about 150 next year. And over the years, this number has ballooned to over 20,000 cranes every year!

The daily routine followed here is a feeding of the cranes around 7.30am that goes on for about 90 minutes, followed by the second feeding around 11.30am that goes on for another 60. After these feedings, if not disturbed, these cranes rest around these water bodies for the rest of the day (and night). An estimate of the feed was done in 2008 and it was found that about 3,000 kg of bird feed was provided to the cranes every day!

A Tragedy

It was a sunny day and predictably the birds were lazing around the water body. Fascinated by the sight, I walked about clicking photographs. All of a sudden, there was some alarm and these birds took flight. We were told some tourist had instigated the commotion by bribing some local boys to sprinkle feed near the cranes and that caused them to take off in panic.

Demoiselles Cranes in flight!

While this sight was awesome, over the next few minutes a couple of these elegant birds had died as they collided midair. A needle-sharp beak hitting another bird mid-flight is akin to driving a stiletto through butter! A normally harmless man-animal interaction had suddenly turned into a man-animal conflict! Saddened by this occurrence, we soon left, but not before I had resolved that I would write about it to request the travel enthusiasts for a responsible conduct during their visit here.

Vishnu Temple at Osian

Khajuraho of Rajasthan

After an hour’s drive, we reached Osian. This small town houses a buzzing modern concrete-and-glass Jain temple. Seeing that, we were disappointed as we were seeking the ancient temples. But some enquiries later, we figured we were on the right track.

Shive Temple at Osian

The ancient temples lay just behind this modern Jain temple. Most of them were in ruins, but that did nothing to hide their ancient glory. At its peak, during the 8th to 11th centuries, there were around a hundred temples in this little town. As we walked around, we could spot about a score of them in the vicinity. While these temples were not as large as the ones in Khajuraho, their stone carving work was equally exquisite.

Pipladevi Temple at Osian

Exploring these magnificent ruins, we figured though they were called ancient Jain temples, they were actually temples of Hindu deities built a millennium ago by the prosperous Jains living in Osian. Walking about the Pipladevi Temple, Shiv Temple, and the Vishnu Temple, we were all admiration for this gem that lay hidden in the deep interiors of the arid region of Rajasthan.

    Sunset at WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes

For more images of Rajasthan, visit my Instagram Roundup – Rural Rajasthan Rhapsody

Well-maintained Sand Dunes

After roaming around this time-warped town for a while, we hurried back. We still had to catch the sunset on the well-maintained dunes the hotel GM had talked about. We were curious to know what he meant, you see.

Blue Hour at the WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes

An idyllic evening at the WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes

Despite some minor hiccups (we lost the way to the Dunes!), we managed to reach the ‘Dunes’ part of the property 10 minutes before the sunset. Once there, we realised ‘well-maintained dunes’ actually meant weeding the dunes and keeping them as pristine as they should be in a desert! Viewing the crimson ball sink beneath the horizon here after an eventful day of driving around rural Rajasthan was bliss.

As we sat there sipping our tea, Nakul summed up the day in just two words – ‘Nice Day!’

WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes

Collective Flight of the Demoiselles Cranes – Khichan Road Trip

This January, after a 10-hour drive from Gurgaon, we reached Khimsar. As we checked into the luxuriously appointed WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes, my friend Nakul sat in our room casually flipping the in-room guide. Besides the room-service fare and the helpful intercom numbers, the guide had a section on the attractions in and around Khimsar.

As we chatted, Nakul mentioned about some ancient Jain Temples in Osian, a small town about 60 km from Khimsar. The in-room guide claimed these temples had a similar architecture as the ones in Khajuraho. This piece of information piqued my interest. I took the in-room guide to go through the details about Osian.

Demoiselles Cranes in flight!

While I was reading about Osian, another attraction caught my eye – Khichan. I knew of the place and I couldn’t believe the place was close enough for a day trip from Khimsar. My excitement was contagious and soon we firmed up our plan of going to Khichan and Osian.

Formation flying by the cranes!

Why Khichan?

Those who may not know, Khichan is a small village in Phalodi Tehsil in Jodhpur District, about 140 km from Jodhpur (and about 120 km from Khimsar). It crept on to the tourists’ itinerary over the last couple of decades for sightings of a large number of Demoiselles Cranes during the winter months.

Demoiselles Cranes at Khichan

It all began with a humble pigeon-feeding initiative by a local villager in the 70s. That year, around 100 cranes landed here. That number grew to about 150 next year. And over the years, this number has steadily ballooned – to about 20,000 cranes every year.

The daily routine followed here is a feeding of the cranes around 7.30am that goes on for about 90 minutes, followed by the second feeding around 11.30am that goes on for about 60 minutes. After these feedings, if not disturbed, these cranes rest around a couple of small water bodies that lay on the outskirts of this village for the rest of the day (and night).

Check them out!

Our Trip

After breakfast, we drove for about 2 hours and reached Khichan around 11.30am – just in time for the second feeding. As we parked, the entry tickets were bought to get to the area where these exotic birds settle. Our guide told us the proceeds from these tickets went towards the feeding of these birds. In fact, he mentioned that an estimate of the feed was done in 2008 and it was found that about 3,000 kg of bird feed was provided to the cranes every day!

The Route Map of our Road Trip

It was a sunny day and predictably the birds were lazing around the water body. Fascinated by the sight, I walked about the place clicking photographs. All of a sudden, there was some alarm and these birds took flight. We were told some tourist had instigated the commotion by bribing some local boys to sprinkle feed near the cranes. That had caused them to take off in panic.

Awe-struck tourists taking in the flyers!

While this sight was awesome, but over the next few minutes, a couple of these elegant birds had died as they collided midair. This collision was fatal for them as their beaks are needle-sharp and if they collide mid-flight and those beaks hit the bird approaching from the opposite direction, it is like a stiletto through their fragile bodies! A normally harmless man-animal interaction had turned into a man-animal conflict! Saddened by this occurrence, we soon left!

Noticing this accident while there, I resolved to write about it to inform my readers about the mishap. I felt it was important to caution them about not engaging in any irresponsible behaviour while they were there.

Pipladevi Temple at Osian

Jain Temples of Osian

After an hour’s drive, we reached Osian. This small town is home to a buzzing modern Jain temple. Seeing that, we were disappointed as we were seeking the ancient temples. But some enquiries later, we figured we were on the right track.

Shiva Temple at Osian

Just behind this modern Jain temple laid the ancient temples. Most of them were in ruins, but that did nothing to hide their ancient glory. At its peak, during the 8th to 11th centuries, there were around a hundred temples in this little town. As we roamed around, we could spot around a score of them in the vicinity. While these temples were not as large as the ones in Khajuraho, the stone carving work on these was equally elaborate.

While exploring these magnificent ruins, we figured that though referred to as ancient Jain temples, these temples were actually temples of Hindu gods (built in that era by the prosperous Jains living in the town). As we visited Pipladevi Temple, Shiv Temple and the Vishnu Temple, we marvelled at this hidden gem in the deep interiors of the arid region of Rajasthan.

Vishnu Temple at Osian

Way back

After roaming around this time-warped town for a while, we hurried back as we wanted to catch the sunset on the dunes of WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes. The manager had talked about the well-maintained dunes and we were curious to know what he meant. Well-maintained dunes, for Chrissake!

Sunset at WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes

Despite some minor hiccups (we lost the way to the Dunes!), we managed to reach the ‘Dunes’ part of the WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes property 10 minutes before the sunset. Catching the sunset here after an eventful day driving around the narrow but well-tarred roads of rural Rajasthan was bliss! Don’t just take my word for it – check out the sunset image! And, by the way, well-maintained dunes actually meant weeding the dunes and keeping them as pristine as they should be in a desert!

Blue Hour at the WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes

We hung around the dunes before returning to the ‘fort’ wing of the property. The property looked magical even during the blue hour and beyond!

While I conclude this post here, this trip took us to another amazing place during our return. Stay tuned! I’ll soon be taking you through that less-explored gem!

An idyllic evening at the WelcomHotel Khimsar Fort & Dunes