RAJASTHAN4U ¤ Destinations ¤ Bikaner ¤ Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary

Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary

The lush foliage of woods on the Jaisalmer road are a haven to nilgai, chinkara, black buck, wild boar , flocks of imperial sand grouse and many more migratory birds that houses the sprawling forest in the winters.It can be visited by jeeps with the forest officers as the guides.

KOLYAT
Kolyat is located 50 kilometres from Bikaner. It is a temple complex of Kolyat and a holy place of pilgrimage for Hindus. The legend has it that Kapil Muni the advocate of Shankya yoga of the Hindu philosophy while journeying towards northwest was struck by the tranquility and peace of this place and chose to perform tapasya (penance) here for the redemption of the world. This place has since acquired great sanctity. The complex has several temples, pavilions and bathing ghats. A dip in the holy waters of the lake especially on Kartik Poornima (November) is considered very auspicious.

KATARIASAR VILLAGE:
It is located on the Jaipur Road and is rich in ethnic rural and cultural life. A walk on the sand dunes is enjoyable and viewing the sun set with a desert landscape is heavenly. The main inhabitant of this village are Jasnathjis, who are the fire dancers and their main life style is dairy farming for milk. Herds of chinkaras, desert fox, rabbits, peacocks, parrots and partridges are found in abundance in this area.

DESHNOK:
The temple is also famous for its holy rodents who are revered as 'Kabas'. It is believed that one of the younger children of the Goddess was drowned to death. Karni Mata then ordered the God of death Yama to bring him back to life. This was not possible for Yama, but Karni Mata as the incarnate of Durga could do so herself. So she got him back to life as a rodent and ordered that no member of the family would die but be reborn as Kaba. It is considered highly fortunate if a Kaba runs over your feet. With so many of them around it is highly unlikely that you wont get blessed. Sighting any white one, which are very few in number is lucky and good for the spiritual enhancement. The temple walls have convenient holes to permit a free passage-way for the Kabas and the roof has a wire grill on the top to prevent the birds of prey and other predators from harming the rodents.

At the temple you can buy prasad of sugar balls to feed the rodents. The priest as an act of anointment puts a tikka of ash, from the holy fire in the inner sanctum, on your forehead. No shoes are allowed inside the temple.

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Bikaner Tourism
Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary | Havelis | Junagarh | Climate

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