Osian

There are 23 temples in this frontier town, one of the final provisioning stops for travellers crossing the Thar Desert by camel, and a once-vital trade station in the 8th and 12th centuries.  Osian is a wild, remote location, right out amongst the rolling sand dunes with views that seem to stretch endlessly into the desert. Visitors are often over-awed by this other-worldly landscape – by the sand and its dunes that ripple and undulate thought the day and night, and the unfeasibly detailed temples that dot the wind-swept land.

Right up on the top of a privately-owned dune is the luxurious Osian Camel Camp, beautifully furnished and complete with its own swimming pool. Here, guests can languish in the solitude of this remarkable landscape, whilst still appreciating top-class Indian hospitality including candle-lit dinners and cocktails. By day, the camp can arrange visits to local tribes by camel safari to get up close to the inhabitants of the Thar desert. Desert wildlife can also be viewed on a camel safari including the Desert Fox and the Chinkara.

Strewn amongst the ever-changing desert are mysterious and alluring Hindu and Jain temples – the Jain temples are still in use – built between the eighth and 10th centuries. One Hindu temple is dedicated to Suraya (the Sun) and one of the Jain temples is for worshippers of the Golden Durga. The temples all contain a intricate carvings and decorative features, such as the ceiling of the Suraya Temple which has serpents entwined with lotus flowers.

I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.
George Bernard Shaw