Ranakpur Temple – A stunning masterpice in Rajasthan
About
Ranakpur is a village located between Jodhpur and Udaipur on the western side of the Aravalli Range. This little village owns one of the most stunning temples in Rajasthan. When you search for organised round trips through Rajasthan this place mostly isn´t on the route. Maybe because it is off the main roads but we can´t understand why. Yes, you will need some effort to get here but it is absolutely worth it. In this post we tell you the reasons why you should take the effort and organise this trip by your own.
How to get there?
As we already explained it is possible to get here from Jodhpur and Udaipur by train. When you plan to visit Pushkar and the Holy Lake as well you also can get here by bus. If you have Jaipur on your route you aslo can get here by train via Falna. The station of Falna (Falna Junction) is also a good choice when you´ve Jodhpur on your planned trip. Basically the way of transport is the main question in India. Taking the bus or train? As I´ve recommended many times before I always would take the train. I know that train rides are not as comfortable tan bus drives but it is the best way to get in touch with locas. And isnt´t this one of the reasons why we travel? Booking a train in India is easy and cheap. (Read more about booking train tickets in India in this post.) The station you have to look for when traveling to Ranakpur is Falna Junction. There are daily trains from and to Udaipur, Jodhpur or Jaipur. If you want to travel more comfortable than take the bus. The best way to book busses in India is with redbus.in.
Where to sleep?
Ranakpur is a rally small village. But because of the Adinath-Templebe many (mostly luxory) hotels are on the Ranakpur Road (32) near the small city Sadri. Those hotels are mostly booked by Indian tourists and if you travel as a backpacker those hotels may blast your budget. On our trip (during the off-season) we stayed in one of those luxury hotels and I was able to get a very good deal when I was negotiating with the hotel manager. After many days in hostels or homestays the nights in this hotel felt like heaven. The hotels are all in a short distance to the Jain Tempel. This was our hotel: Mana Hotel
The Adinath-Temple
For most of all travelers thsi temple is the main reason of the visit here. This temple was built until 1458 and is the most detailed temple in whole Rajasthan. During the 17th century this incredible building nearby passed in oblivion. Some groups of dangerous bandits made lots of trouble in the region of Ranakpur. In the mid of the 20th century the restoration works began and nowadays we can visit a temple i a really good condition. Unusualy the marble building has many very detailed mandalas. Those look like typical buddhist mandalas what is very unusual in theis part of India. This circumstance gives this temple its special allure. If you visit the temple you shuld bring enogh time to enjoy the spiritual atmosphere.
Get there: Hitchhiking in India
When you stay in one of those hotels and when you travel without a car you have 3 options to get to the temple. The first one is to organize a driver from your hotel (But this may burst your budget). The second option is to take the local bus. But the bus is always packed and it only stops at one of the (hard to find) Busstopps. It is funny that there is not a stopp near the hotels. Or you do it like we did. Take your thumb and start to hitchhike. Don’t worry about this option. Hitchhiking in India is extraordinary but safe. We only met really friendly and helpful people.
- Note:
When you are female and travel alone you shouldn’t hitchhike! If you are a couple of two it should be very safe. The most important thing is: Trust your natural instinct!
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