24th February 2014 (Day 16) Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

By late afternoon we were in Jaisalmer.  After stopping at our hotel, we visited Gadisar Lake.  We are in the middle of the Thar Desert, less than 100 kilometres from Pakistan.  This is a man-made lake filled by rainwater that was originally the source of Jaisalmer’s water supply.

.

These days the lake never dries up because it is fed by the Indira Ghandi Canal, which carries water some 650 kilometres from the Punjab.

.

Boat rides are available but we didn’t go on one on this occasion.

.

Nearby was a musician playing on a distinctive Rajasthani instrument.  I bought his CD.

.

Near where the bus was parked was this small timber mill and firewood supplier.

.

A view from the bus of what appear to be fairly poor families in front of their houses.

.

We arrived at a vantage point where we could take photographs of Jaisalmer Fort at sunset.  There were also some interesting views of the city nearby, including this one featuring many stacked ceramic pots.

.

A woman near where we were standing.

.

Some people were playing volleyball on the street below.

.

A view of a market area some distance away.

.

Looking along a nearby street….

.

These two young men asked me to take their photograph.

.

And there was another musician playing distinctive music.

.

The sunset was gathering towards the west.

.

And here is Jaisalmer Fort at the peak of the sunset.

The fort was built in 1156 and Jaisalmer means “the hill fort of Jaisal” after the founder Maharawal Jaisal Singh.  On two occasions in the fourteenth century, sieges led to jauhar.  This meant that, at the point where all was clearly lost, all the soldiers launched out of the fort to die in battle while the women and children burned themselves on a huge pyre.

The first occasion was at the hand of the Delhi Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji, the second involved the Persian Emperor Ferozshah.

.

A lone figure on a roof at bottom right surveys the town and the fort after sunset.

Jaisalmer was one of the last areas in India to fall within the British Raj.

.