An old trading village on the Godwar road
Godwar: the strip of farmland between the Aravalli hills and the plains of Marwar.
Border country: Mewar lay over the hills to the east and Marwar to the west, and the two kingdoms fought over Godwar's fields and towns before it settled with Jodhpur in the eighteenth century.
Two kingdoms in one village: you still hear both in the way people speak, and see both in the turbans at a village wedding.
- Region
- Godwar, Pali district
- Early inscriptions
- 1138 and 1145
- Temples standing
- About twenty-two
- Battle of Narlai
- 15 June 1680
- Settled with
- Jodhpur, 18th century
- Old inscriptions: two from the time of the Chahamana kings of nearby Nadol, dated 1138 and 1145, mention the village under an earlier name.
- A toll on bulls: they describe a commercial centre that charged a fee on the bulls carrying merchants' goods.
- Trade paid for temples: Narlai was one of a cluster of trading towns at the foot of the hills. Locals say it once had more than a hundred temples, and about twenty-two carved ones still stand.
- The battle of 1680: on 15 June, during Aurangzeb's long war with the Rajput states, a Mughal force under Tahawwur Khan was defeated here by Rathores from Marwar and Sisodias from Mewar.
- Old rivals together: for once the two kingdoms fought on the same side. Your guide may point out the open ground where people say the armies met, and that is all anyone can show you.
- The family: Rawla Narlai's owners are a branch of the Jodhpur royal house, and the lodge came to them as a hunting retreat.
- From hunting to watching: Jodhpur nobles once came for the forests, the partridge and the hunts. Today the hills are watched for leopards, and people come for the quiet.
Rawla Narlai, the hunting lodge in the village
What a rawla is: a nobleman's residence, smaller than a palace and less formal than a fort. Read what a rawla is.
Its history: built in the seventeenth century as a hunting lodge for the Jodhpur royal family, and opened as a heritage hotel in 1996.
Still family-owned: by the same family that runs Ajit Bhawan in Jodhpur.
- Built
- 17th century, a hunting lodge
- Opened as hotel
- 1996
- Restored by
- Maharaj Swaroop Singh and Rani Usha Devi
- Sister hotel
- Ajit Bhawan, Jodhpur
- The building: low, white and deeply shaded, with courtyards, arched verandas and faded original frescoes on some walls.
- Gardens behind: newer rooms and tents spread through them.
- The view: the granite hill rises right behind, so from the terrace you watch the light move across the rock all day.
- Marwari horses: the rawla keeps the breed with the inward-curving ears, for rides through the fields in the cool of the morning.
- Heritage rooms: in the old building, with the most atmosphere and the thickest walls.
- Garden rooms and tents: more space and privacy. Our Rawla Narlai guide says which we prefer.
The granite hill and its white elephant
A single monolith: the kind of granite rock that rises from the plains all through this part of Rajasthan.
Jaikal: the villagers' name for the hill. The white elephant statue on its summit can be seen for miles.
Three stories: ask three people why the elephant is there and you will hear three. Better to climb up and greet it than argue about its origins.
- Local name
- Jaikal
- Steps
- More than seven hundred
- Best hours
- Before sunrise or the last hour of light
- Cave shrine
- Shiva, busiest in Shravan
- The climb: real exercise, steep in places. Carry water and wear proper shoes.
- The view: village roofs, temple spires, fields, the Aravalli ridge to the east and, on a clear winter day, a long blue haze toward Marwar.
- Tea at the top: the rawla can arrange tea or a sundowner.
- The cave: a few hundred metres long inside the hill, holding a Shiva shrine.
- When villagers pray: especially on Mondays, sacred to Shiva, and in the monsoon month of Shravan.
- In the cave: take off your shoes, keep your voice low and accept the small offering of sweets or ash you may be given. It is a living shrine, not a sight.
The temples of Narlai
Jain merchants: Godwar has long been home to wealthy Jain families, and they built richly.
- They come home: many now trade in the big cities of western and southern India, but return for weddings, festivals and temple anniversaries, and keep the shrines in beautiful order.
- Hindu temples too: to Shiva, Krishna and the village goddesses, giving Narlai more sacred buildings than most towns ten times its size.
The Adinath temple
The oldest: dedicated to Adinath, the first tirthankara, with inscriptions tradition dates to the early tenth century.
- Look up: the dome is painted with the wedding of Neminath, the twenty-second tirthankara, to the princess Rajul.
- The story: he abandoned the wedding on the way when he heard the cries of animals penned for the feast. It is the founding story of Jain compassion, lovingly painted.
The Neminath temple
- Often locked: the keys are usually kept at the pedhi, the office of the main Adinath temple, and our guide will ask politely for you.
- Worth the patience: for the carved stone inside.
The hilltop shrine
- A small Shatrunjaya: a long flight of stairs climbs to a Jain shrine on a hilltop at the village edge, an echo of the great pilgrimage hill in Gujarat.
- Barefoot pilgrims: they climb it without shoes, and the view and the silence at the top are the reward.
Visiting with respect
No leather: leave belts, wallets and watch straps outside, and cover shoulders and knees.
- Inside: no food or drink, and don't touch the images.
- A traditional rule: women who are menstruating are asked not to enter.
- Ask freely: our guide to temple etiquette explains the reasons, and nobody minds a question.
Dinner in a stepwell
The baori: every Rajasthani village once depended on its stepwell, a deep stone well with flights of steps down to the water.
A meeting place: women filled pots and talked there, and travellers rested in its galleries.
Natural cooling: on hot afternoons the air at the bottom could be many degrees cooler than at the top.
- A second life: Narlai has several, mostly no longer used for water, and one now hosts dinner.
- The lamps: on a dinner night the rawla's team lights hundreds of oil lamps along the steps and ledges.
- The music: folk singers with a dholak drum and a harmonium sit on the landings, and the songs echo off the walls.
- The table: laid at the bottom, with dinner carried down in courses.
- Who it suits: two people or a small family, on a cool, clear night between October and March. Guests remember it longest of their whole journey.
- Before you dine: read about the stepwells of Rajasthan. Chand Baori at Abhaneri is the most spectacular of all.
Life in a Godwar village
A farming village first: wheat and mustard in winter, millet and maize after the monsoon. Wells and small reservoirs decide how good a year will be.
The Rabari: the herding community grazes camels, sheep and goats on the hills and stubble fields.
- Rabari dress: men in white with bright red turbans, women in black wool skirts and heavy silver jewellery.
- Opinions: many have strong views about the weather and the leopards.
- Life outside: women sort grain or embroider on doorsteps, old men play cards under the banyan by the temple, and children ask your name.
- A late-afternoon walk: with a local guide, one of the most enjoyable hours in Rajasthan.
- What you'll see: potters at their wheels, a blacksmith shoeing a bullock, a shrine painted orange for the local hero-god, and houses with handprints and painted elephants for a wedding.
- Someone's home: ask before photographing, don't hand out sweets or pens, and ask us first if you'd like to give something back. See travelling responsibly.
Granite, peacocks and the occasional leopard
Ancient rock: Godwar's granite is hundreds of millions of years old, worn into domes, boulders and rounded ridges.
Between the outcrops: scrub, thorn and small fields, with neem, khejri and banyan trees around the wells. Bare from a car, full of life on foot.
Peafowl: everywhere, and the males display in the fields after the first rains.
- Hanuman langurs: on the hill and around the temples, tolerated because of their link with Hanuman.
- Nilgai: the big blue-grey antelope graze field edges at dawn.
- Birds of the rock: grey francolins in the scrub, Indian eagle-owls and rock pigeons on the rock faces.
- Winter water birds: the village tanks draw ducks, herons and storks.
- Leopards: they live in these hills, as across the granite country to Jawai, and Rabari herders know which cave one used last month.
- Never on foot: you are unlikely to see one from Narlai, and should never go looking. Treat any glimpse as a gift.
- For leopards: read about tiger and leopard safaris and give Jawai its own nights.
Day trips from Narlai
Ranakpur
- The temple: fifteenth-century white marble with a forest of carved pillars, in a wooded valley less than an hour away.
- Timing: go early, before the coaches. If you are not Jain, check visiting hours with us, because the temple keeps mornings for worship.
Kumbhalgarh
- Rana Kumbha's fortress: immense walls running for kilometres along the ridge, a short drive across the hills.
- Late afternoon: walk a stretch of wall, then stay for the evening light on the battlements.
Jawai
- Leopard country: around Jawai Bandh, about an hour away, so a morning or evening safari from Narlai is possible.
- Serious about leopards: we still suggest two nights in Jawai itself.
Nadol and the Godwar towns
- The old Chahamana capital: close by, with its temple to Ashapura Mata, the family goddess of the Chauhans.
- A quiet half-day: add a few smaller Jain and Hindu shrines of Godwar, for anyone who likes old stone and few visitors.
What to eat in Narlai
Winter bread: thick bajra millet rotis with white butter.
The staples: ker sangri (dried desert berries and beans), kadhi of sour yoghurt, gatte dumplings, and dal baati churma for a celebration.
- At the stepwell: a feast of local dishes with the classic Rajput meats, laal maas in red chilli and safed maas in cream and nuts.
- Jain menus: vegetarian food without onion and garlic, cooked with care, because this is a Jain village.
- Breakfast: mirchi bada, a large green chilli stuffed with spiced potato and fried in gram-flour batter, with sweet milky tea.
- Afternoons: chaas, the cool salted buttermilk every farmer drinks.
- Learn more: our Rajasthani food guide, and a haveli cooking class with the rawla's cooks.
When to visit Narlai
The cool season: pleasant days and cool nights, for hill climbs, village walks, horse rides and stepwell dinners.
Deep winter: cold after dark, so pack a warm layer.
Summer: often very hot. Keep it short, with long afternoons in the shade.
- Best months
- October to March
- Cold nights
- December and January
- Hot months
- April to June
- Monsoon
- July to September
- Shravan
- July and August
- Monsoon: green hills and bright fields, though rain can cancel an outdoor dinner.
- Holi: in February or March, real village joy, with bonfires, drums and colour in the lanes.
- Diwali: in October or November, lamps in the temples and lanes, and for the Jain community the day of Mahavira's liberation.
- Paryushan: the Jain festival in the late monsoon brings many families home.
- Shravan: the busy season at the Shiva cave.
- The whole year: our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan.
Getting to Narlai
Airports: Udaipur and Jodhpur are the nearest.
Ranakpur on the way: the usual route from Udaipur passes it, so most guests stop at the temple.
- From Udaipur
- About two and a half hours
- From Jodhpur
- About two and a half hours
- Ranakpur
- Under an hour
- Jawai
- About an hour
- Nearest station
- Falna, about an hour
- Kumbhalgarh: a short drive across the hills.
- By rail: Falna is on the main line between Ahmedabad and Jaipur.
- In the village: you walk. Lanes are narrow and distances short.
- How we plan it: a two-night pause on the drive in Udaipur to Jodhpur via Ranakpur, at the heart of our Mewar and Marwar journey.
Two days in Narlai
Day one, arrive by way of Ranakpur
Morning: leave Udaipur after breakfast and reach Ranakpur by mid-morning for the temple.
- Afternoon: on to Narlai for a late lunch and a rest.
- Evening: walk the village with a guide, visit the Adinath temple, and dine in the stepwell under the lamps.
Day two, the hill and the horses
Dawn: climb the hill and drink tea beside the white elephant as light comes up over Godwar.
- Morning: ride Marwari horses through the fields, or take a jeep into the countryside.
- Late afternoon: Kumbhalgarh's walls at sunset, or an evening leopard drive at Jawai.
What most visitors to Godwar miss
The Godwar Panch Tirth: Jain pilgrims link five shrines of the region into one circuit: Ranakpur, Varkana, Nadol, Narlai and Muchhala Mahavir near Ghanerao.
Ghanerao: a nearby village with an old castle and the Muchhala Mahavir temple, easy to add to a Ranakpur morning.
- Pilgrim circuit
- The Godwar Panch Tirth
- Its five shrines
- Ranakpur, Varkana, Nadol, Narlai, Muchhala Mahavir
- Mountain pass
- Desuri, into Mewar
- Nadol's kings
- Chahamanas, from the 10th century
- The Desuri pass: the road from Desuri climbs through a narrow gap in the Aravallis towards Mewar, the old route between the two kingdoms.
- Nadol's Chahamanas: a branch of the Chauhans ruled from Nadol from the tenth century, and the inscriptions that name Narlai come from their reign.
- After the battle: Tahawwur Khan, the Mughal commander beaten here in 1680, joined Prince Akbar's revolt against his father the next year and was killed in 1681.
- Rajul's ending: in the Jain story painted in the Adinath dome, the abandoned princess Rajul later became a nun herself.
- Paryushan: the Jain festival of fasting and forgiveness lasts eight days for the Shvetambara community of Godwar.
Before you go to Narlai
Pack: walking shoes with grip for the granite, a hat, a warm layer for winter nights and a torch.
Temples: keep a pair of socks handy for hot marble floors, and carry no leather on temple mornings.
- Allow
- Two nights
- Hill climb
- About an hour up and down
- Dress code
- Shoulders and knees covered
- Good for
- Couples, walkers, active families
- Money: small notes for temple offerings and tea in the village. Few shops take cards.
- Binoculars: for the langurs, owls and peafowl on the hill at dusk.
- Horses: tell us in advance if you want to ride, and whether you are a beginner, so the rawla can match you to the right horse.
Who will love Narlai, and who won't
Walkers and the curious: if a stone temple with no other visitors excites you more than a famous one with a queue.
Couples: the stepwell dinner and the quiet.
- Photographers: granite in low light, Rabari turbans and lamp-lit steps.
- Active families: the climb, the horses and the space.
- Long-journey travellers: a rest between the big-city days of Udaipur and Jodhpur.
- Not for you if: you want a large spa, a choice of restaurants or sights from morning to night.
- Honest caveats: the village is simple, roads are rough at the edges, and it is dusty in the dry months. Some old rooms have small bathrooms and steep steps.
- Alternatives: a larger property such as Mihir Garh or Rohet Garh near Jodhpur. Tell us what matters and we'll say honestly which suits.
Our advice for Narlai
Climb early or late: never at midday. Granite holds heat, and the steps have little shade.
A torch after dark: street lighting is patchy, and the stepwell steps are uneven.
- Temple mornings: bring modest clothes, and leave leather belts and bags in your room.
- Say khamma ghani: the respectful Rajasthani greeting often earns a smile and an invitation to tea.
- No nightlife: expect stars, birdsong and the best sleep of your journey.
- Leopards need their own nights: give Jawai its own stay. Narlai is for rest, walking and village life.
