Bikaner's seasons, explained
- Winter
- October to March, the season
- Summer
- April to June, fierce heat
- Monsoon
- July to September, light rain
- Record high
- 49.5 degrees
- Record low
- Below freezing, in January
Winter, October to March
This is the season: sunny, dry days, a deep blue sky, and the light on the red sandstone of Junagarh and Lalgarh at its most beautiful.
Shoulder months: October and March are warm.
- Close to perfect: November and February, with pleasant days and cool evenings.
- Properly cold nights: in December and January. Bikaner has recorded temperatures below freezing in January, and mornings can be misty or hazy, though days stay bright and comfortable.
- Busy for a reason: the Bikaner Camel Festival, the winter bird migrants and the wedding season all fall now, so book well ahead.
Summer, April to June
Fast heat: from April it builds quickly.
May and June: afternoon temperatures in the mid-forties Celsius are normal, and the city has recorded 49.5 degrees.
- Wind and dust: hot winds and dust storms sweep in from the desert.
- A shifted day: life moves to early morning and evening, and the middle of the day is spent indoors.
- The upside: hotels are quiet and prices can be lower, but sightseeing must be done at dawn and dusk.
- Who it suits: only travellers comfortable with real heat and happy to rest through the afternoon.
Monsoon, July to September
Late and weak: the monsoon reaches Bikaner later and more weakly than the south of Rajasthan.
A dry corner: Bikaner is one of the drier parts of Rajasthan, so even the rainy months bring little rain.
- The rain: usually a handful of heavy showers in July and August, with humid air.
- A brief green: scrub and grasses spring up and herders move their flocks to fresh grazing.
- Still hot: temperatures drop a little from June's extremes but remain high.
- Who it suits: a quiet, interesting time for travellers who don't mind humidity, and the light after rain can be beautiful.
Bikaner, month by month
January
Weather: the coldest month and one of the best, bright and comfortable by day, close to freezing at night, with chilly early mornings.
Pack: a down jacket or warm shawl for dawn at Deshnoke and evenings in courtyards.
- Festivals: the Bikaner Camel Festival, with decorated camels, races, dances and folk music. Makar Sankranti, on 14 January, is a day of charity and sesame sweets.
- Wildlife: winter migrants at their peak at Jorbeer and Gajner.
- Crowds: the city is at its busiest.
- What's good: the Camel Festival, Jorbeer's vultures, crisp days at Junagarh and fires under the stars.
- Our advice: ask your hotel for a room heater, and plan Deshnoke for a little after sunrise rather than before, when the cold is sharpest.
- The rest of the state: our Rajasthan in January guide.
February
Our favourite month: the cold eases, days are warm and sunny, nights cool and the light still clear.
Weddings: the season continues, so you may hear bands in the lanes in the evening.
- Wildlife: vultures and eagles still at Jorbeer, and blackbuck active in the grasslands of Tal Chhapar.
- Ideal for: the whole desert triangle with Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.
- What's good: everything, at a comfortable pace, with long lunches outdoors and courtyard evenings without a heavy coat.
- More: see Rajasthan in February.
March
Weather: warm days and pleasant evenings, with heat building towards the end of the month.
Holi: usually in March. The old city celebrates over several days with music and gatherings in the lanes, as well as the riot of colour on the main day.
- Gangaur: follows Holi, when women worship the goddess Gauri and carry her image in procession.
- Navratri: in some years Chaitra Navratri and the larger Karni Mata Fair begin in late March.
- What's good: festival colour, warm evenings on hotel terraces and the last of the winter birding.
- Holi advice: choose a palace hotel with its own celebration rather than the crowded streets, unless you love a joyful scrum.
- More: our pages on Holi in Rajasthan and Rajasthan in March.
April
Weather: the heat arrives in earnest, with hot afternoons and warm nights.
Pilgrims: Chaitra Navratri often falls in late March or April, bringing the larger of the two Karni Mata fairs, when thousands walk to Deshnoke.
- Akha Teej: Bikaner's foundation day falls in April or May, when the whole city flies kites from its rooftops.
- Crowds: visitor numbers drop and hotels grow quieter.
- What's good: quiet hotels, the Karni Mata pilgrims and, with luck, Akha Teej.
- The rhythm: sightsee at dawn, return by late morning and go out again after five, when the old city comes back to life.
May
Weather: one of the two hottest months, with afternoons commonly in the mid-forties and dust storms rolling in from the desert.
Akha Teej: if it falls in May, the rooftop kite flying and the bajra khichda eaten across the city are wonderful to see.
- Who it suits: travellers comfortable in serious heat.
- The plan: dawn visits, long afternoons by the hotel pool and evenings out.
- What's good: very little crowding, and a real sense of how desert people live with heat.
- Small pleasures: mango season begins in the markets, and the night air on a rooftop after a hot day has its own magic.
- More: see summer in Rajasthan.
June
Weather: the hottest and hardest month, before the monsoon.
The city: slows almost to a stop in the afternoons, and even locals avoid going out between late morning and late afternoon.
- Our advice: we generally advise against visiting in June without a particular reason.
- Instead: consider Mount Abu, Rajasthan's only hill station.
- What's good, if you are here: the drama of a desert summer, cold buttermilk and lassi, and the first monsoon clouds building in the south at the very end of the month.
July
Weather: the monsoon usually arrives, with heavy but short showers, humid air and some relief from the heat.
The desert greens: peacocks dance and call after rain.
- Teej: the festival of the monsoon and of married women falls in July or August, with swings hung from trees and women in green and red leheriya.
- Crowds: few.
- What's good: the green flush after the first rains, the smell of wet earth, ghevar in the shops and almost no other visitors.
- Our advice: keep plans flexible, as a storm can change a day.
- More: our page on Teej.
August
Weather: still the monsoon, with occasional rain, humidity and green scrub around the city.
Festivals: Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami, the birthday of Krishna, fall in August or thereabouts and are celebrated in homes and temples.
- Who it suits: curious travellers who don't mind the humidity, in a quiet month.
- What's good: dramatic skies over Junagarh and Lalgarh, quiet palaces and the desert at its greenest.
- Pair it with: a few days in Udaipur or the hills of Mewar, where the monsoon is far stronger.
- More: see Rajasthan in August.
September
Weather: the rains taper off and the heat returns, though not to May's levels.
Navratri: late in the month, or in October, Ashvin Navratri brings the second Karni Mata fair.
- Wildlife: the countryside can still be green, and migrant birds begin returning to the Thar towards the end of the month.
- What's good: calm hotels, the start of the bird migration and the Karni Mata fair if Navratri falls early.
- Who it suits: flexible travellers who want the city almost to themselves.
- More: see Rajasthan in September.
October
Weather: the season begins. Days are warm, sometimes hot, nights cool and the light clears after the monsoon.
Festivals: Navratri and Dussehra fill the temples and streets.
- Diwali: often in October or November, when the old city's havelis and shops are lit with lamps.
- Crowds: hotels start to fill.
- What's good: Navratri, Dussehra, Diwali lamps and the start of the desert's best light.
- Our advice: early October can still feel hot at midday, so keep the afternoons free for rest.
- More: see Diwali in Rajasthan and Rajasthan in October.
November
Weather: one of the most comfortable months, warm by day and cool by night.
Kolayat: at the full moon of Kartik, in October or November, its fair draws pilgrims to bathe in the sacred lake of Kapil Sarovar.
- Pushkar: the same full moon brings the famous Pushkar fair further south.
- Wildlife: winter birds arrive at Jorbeer, and demoiselle cranes gather at Khichan on the road towards Jodhpur.
- Weddings: the season begins.
- What's good: the year's most comfortable weather, and easy combinations with the Pushkar fair and the rest of the desert. It is the month we recommend most often.
- More: see Rajasthan in November.
December
Weather: cold, clear and beautiful. Days are bright and mild, nights cold, and the light golden all day.
Crowds: the Christmas and New Year weeks are the busiest of the year in the palace hotels, so book months ahead.
- Pack: warm layers for early starts and courtyard dinners.
- What's good: golden light, cold clear nights for stargazing, festive palace hotels and long lunches in the sun.
- For quiet: come in the first half of the month, before the holiday crowds.
- More: see Christmas and New Year in Rajasthan and Rajasthan in December.
How Bikaner lives with its seasons
When you travel with the seasons rather than against them, eating what Bikaner eats and keeping the hours it keeps, the city feels far more comfortable, whatever the month.
Summer dawns: the old city wakes before dawn. Shops open early and errands are run before nine.
Summer noons: by late morning the lanes are almost empty, shutters half-closed against the glare.
- Matkas: water is kept cool in unglazed clay pots that sweat and chill their contents.
- Chaach: glasses of salted buttermilk are passed around at every stop.
- Summer evenings: when the heat breaks, families sit on doorsteps, men gather at tea stalls and children take to the rooftops.
- The old way: whole households once slept on the roof under the stars.
- Winter food: bajra rotis with ghee and jaggery, warming dals, sesame and jaggery sweets around Makar Sankranti, and steaming milk at night.
- Winter dress: men wrap themselves in wool shawls, women in heavier odhnis, and fires are lit in courtyards after dark.
- The monsoon: greeted with joy. Swings are hung for Teej, women wear leheriya in the colours of rain, and the sweet shops fill with ghevar.
The Bikaner festival calendar
The Camel Festival: the January highlight, when the city celebrates the animal that made its history.
What you'll see: camels with embroidered saddles, mirror work and patterns clipped into their coats, plus camel dances, races and folk music.
The contests: the finest moustache and the best-turned-out turban.
- Camel Festival
- January
- Karni Mata fairs
- Both Navratris, spring and autumn
- Akha Teej
- April or May, Bikaner's birthday
- Kolayat fair
- Full moon of Kartik
- Dates
- Lunar, we confirm them each year
- Its mood: cheerful, crowded and wonderful with children. Dates are set each year by the state tourism department.
- The goddess's fairs: during both Navratris, pilgrims walk to Deshnoke in their thousands, and the road south fills with families singing.
- Kolayat: at the full moon of Kartik its fair draws bathers and traders to the sacred lake.
- Akha Teej: Bikaner's birthday, the day Rao Bika is said to have founded the city in 1488, celebrated with kites, millet khichda and tamarind water.
- Moving dates: Hindu festivals follow the lunar calendar, so we confirm them when we plan your journey.
- Across Rajasthan: our festival calendar lists the great celebrations, and our page on Navratri in Rajasthan explains the nine nights.
Wildlife, birds and light through the year
Jorbeer's vultures: just outside the city, Eurasian and Himalayan griffons and cinereous vultures join the resident Egyptian vultures.
Eagles: steppe eagles gather in numbers.
Gajner: its lake attracts ducks and waders.
- Migrants
- November to March
- Best birding
- December to February
- Camels
- All year, herds return late afternoon
- Best light
- Winter, dry and low
- Tal Chhapar: the grasslands of Tal Chhapar hold large herds of blackbuck, and harriers and other raptors.
- When to come: serious birders should come between December and February. Our page on birding in Rajasthan gives more detail.
- Camels all year: herds at the National Research Centre on Camel return from grazing in the late afternoon in every season, crossing briefly green country in the monsoon.
- Winter light: the best season for photographers, with dry, clear air, a low sun and red sandstone glowing from sunrise to sunset.
- Monsoon light: dramatic skies but also haze.
- Summer light: flat and harsh from mid-morning.
- Working with it: our photography tips explain how.
Crowds and quiet times
The busiest weeks: the Camel Festival in January and the Christmas and New Year holidays. Book hotels and guides months ahead.
Navratri fairs: they make Deshnoke extremely crowded, though the city itself stays calm.
- Busiest
- Camel Festival, Christmas and New Year
- Deshnoke crowds
- The two Navratri fairs
- Quietest
- April to September
- Calmest mornings
- Weekdays in November and February
- Holiday weekends: Indian holidays, especially around Diwali, bring domestic visitors to Junagarh. Go at opening time.
- April to September: the city is quiet, and the palace hotels are often half empty.
- The calmest times: weekday mornings in November and February are the calmest and most comfortable for everything.
The right month for the way you travel
Families with children
When: the Christmas holidays and the February half-term, cool enough for long days out.
- If you can: January brings the Camel Festival.
- Avoid: the summer school holidays, which fall in the hottest months.
- More advice: our page on travelling with children.
Couples
- When: November and February, for warm days, cool evenings, quiet hotels and starry nights.
- Add: a lakeside night at Gajner, lovely in either month.
Photographers
When: December to February for clear, low winter light on red sandstone.
- Colour: January for the Camel Festival.
- Drama: the monsoon months for skies, if you can wait for them.
Birders and nature lovers
When: December to February.
- Where: the vultures and eagles of Jorbeer, waterbirds at Gajner and raptors over Tal Chhapar.
- On the road south: demoiselle cranes at Khichan from about late autumn.
Pilgrims and those interested in faith
When: the two Navratris, in spring and autumn, for the Karni Mata fairs at Deshnoke.
- Also: the full moon of Kartik for the bathing fair at Kolayat.
- Expect: crowds, and plan accordingly.
What to pack for Bikaner
Layers: the same day can begin in a jacket and end in a short-sleeved shirt.
Winter warmth: from November to February bring a warm jacket or fleece and a shawl for dawn starts and evenings outside. Stone rooms and courtyards are cold at night.
Sun protection: all year, a wide-brimmed hat, good sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen. The desert sun is strong even in winter.
- November to February
- Warm jacket or fleece, a shawl
- All year
- Hat, sunglasses, high-factor sunscreen
- Temples
- Old socks, a scarf, covered shoulders
- Wildlife
- Binoculars
- Clothes: light, loose, long cotton or linen, best for the heat and for temples, covering shoulders and knees.
- Old socks: for the Karni Mata temple, where you walk barefoot or in socks.
- Shoes: comfortable, with a good grip, for the stairs of Junagarh and the uneven lanes of the old city.
- A scarf: for dust, sun and covering your head in temples.
- Binoculars: if you plan to visit Jorbeer, Gajner or Tal Chhapar.
- More detail: our full guide to what to pack for Rajasthan, and our page on weather and climate across the state.
Fitting Bikaner into a longer journey by season
In winter: Bikaner belongs on a desert circuit with Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, which our desert triangle journey follows.
Or from Delhi: a route through the painted towns of Shekhawati, with a stop at Tal Chhapar for the blackbuck.
- The whole state: our winter in Rajasthan journey shows how it comes alive between November and February.
- In the hot months: keep Bikaner short, if you include it at all, and spend more time in the cooler hills of Mount Abu or the lake city of Udaipur.
- In the monsoon: combine a brief desert visit with the green lakes and hills of Mewar, which our monsoon in Mewar journey celebrates.
Our advice, in short
November or February: for the most comfortable weather and the calmest city.
January: for the Camel Festival and the best birding, accepting the cold nights and busier hotels.
October or March: if those are your dates, planning around the warmer afternoons.
- Most comfortable
- November or February
- For the festival
- January, with cold nights
- Also good
- October or March, warmer afternoons
- Avoid
- May and June
- May and June: avoid them unless you love heat.
- The monsoon: treat it as an interesting shoulder season rather than a main one.
- How long in winter: two nights is ideal, a day for Junagarh and the old city and another for Deshnoke, Lalgarh and the camel centre. Add a third for Gajner, Jorbeer's vultures or Tal Chhapar.
- Every month: see the fort and temples at dawn, rest at midday and spend the late afternoon in the old city or at Lalgarh.
- Pacing the days: our Bikaner itinerary.
- Choosing what to see: our list of things to do in Bikaner.
- A place to come home to: our guide to luxury hotels in Bikaner.
- The wider picture: our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan.
