The Lost Silk Road

DURATION: 5 DAYS Best for: Antique havelis, folk art, desert villages

ROUTE: Jaipur • Nawalgarh • Mandawa • Bikaner WHY GO? Experience a less-visited region that’s close to capital Jaipur but feels a world away culturally. Usefully, it can also be an alternative route to Jaisalmer. WHEN TO GO: Oct–mar

Centuries ago, a spur of the Silk Route would send traders west across the Thar Desert all the way to Sindh and the Indus River. This ancient artery, in use since the time of Alexander the Great, closed abruptly with the creation of the Pakistani border in 1947, but numerous vestiges of past splendour survive in the towns and villages dotted along it – notably in the region of Shekhawati, just north of Jaipur, where a wonderful crop of painted havelis (courtyard mansions) rise proudly from tangles of old, sand-blown streets.

Base yourself either in the market town of Nawalgarh or – for a swanky heritage option – in the castle hotel at Mandawa. Either way, a wealth of superb historic properties, forts and temples lie within easy reach of day trips in this area. Shekhawati’s painted havelis are famous not merely for their religious imagery, but also folk-art depictions of the wonders of the early colonial era – steam trains, hot air balloons, motor cars, red-coated armies and topi-wearing British officials feature prominently among the usual array of many-armed deities. Hotels and guest houses in Shekhawati also offer eco-friendly camel cart trips out to local villages and traditional textile or pottery workshops.

From Mandawa, continue west along the old caravan trail to Bikaner – a Rajput oasis city sculpted from chocolate-coloured sandstone. As well as another assemblage of palaces and havelis, you can visit the ‘rat temple’ at Deshnok ( pictured above), where thousands of holy rodents swarm around a marble-lined shrine dedicated to warrior-prophet Karni Mata.

Top tip

The town of Jhunjhunu, in northern Shekhawati, is home to the Rani Sati temple, dedicated to the titular victim of ‘sati’ – ritual self-immolation – who threw herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.