Keepers of Parvati's camels
Their own origin story says that Parvati made a camel from clay and asked Shiva to bring it to life. When it wandered off and needed looking after, Shiva created the first Rabari to herd it.
Who they are: a pastoral community of western India, herding camels, sheep, goats and cattle across Rajasthan, Gujarat and beyond.
Rabari and Raika: in Marwar the same people are often called Raika. The two names cover closely related groups who share the same work, the same gods and many of the same customs.
- Who
- Herders of camels, sheep, goats and cattle
- Also called
- Raika, in Marwar
- Where
- Rajasthan, Gujarat and beyond
- Around Jawai
- Mostly settled villages
- Wealth
- Still counted in animals
- Always moving: for centuries the Rabari followed the rains and the harvests between grazing grounds.
- What their camels carried: the trade of the desert, the armies of the Rajput states and the water of the villages.
- A bargain with rulers: rulers granted grazing rights, and the herders supplied animals, milk and wool in return.
- Still on the road: many families still walk their sheep and goats for weeks or months when local pastures fail, though fewer do so every decade.
- Around Jawai today: most live in settled villages, farming a little and grazing on the hills, the scrub and the fields after the harvest.
- Counted in animals: a good herd of goats means milk, ghee and an income, and a girl's dowry and a family's standing are often measured in livestock.
- Read more: our journal piece on the Rabari tells their history, and our Jawai guide explains the landscape they share with the leopards.
Pabuji, the hero who brought the camels
That belief is one reason why the cats are tolerated here in a way that astonishes most visitors. A Rabari herder may lose a goat or a calf to a leopard and speak of it with sorrow but without anger, as the price of sharing a hill with a goddess's cat.
Who he was: Pabuji, a Rathore prince of the fourteenth century from Kolu, near Phalodi in the desert of Marwar.
- His epic: says he brought the first camels to Rajasthan, and died defending the cattle of a woman who had trusted him with them, on the day of his own wedding.
- Protector of herds: he is worshipped across Marwar, and Rabari and Raika families pray to him when an animal falls ill or a camel is lost.
- The bhopas: singer-priests perform his story in front of a phad, a long cloth scroll painted with the scenes of the epic.
- Through the night: a bhopa and his wife sing, holding up a lamp to each scene as the story reaches it.
- Several nights: a full performance can last that long, and families commission one to fulfil a vow or bring luck to the herds. Our journal piece on the bhopa and the phad explains how to read the paintings.
- The goddess on the hill: almost every granite hill around Jawai has a shrine on top, many to forms of the goddess, and the herders see the leopard as her vehicle.
White, red and silver: reading the dress
The men of Godwar
White: a long, gathered white jacket or a short white shirt, and a white dhoti.
The turban: large and red, sometimes white. Our journal on the turbans of Rajasthan explains what the colours and styles say.
- Earrings: heavy gold or silver, worn high in the ear.
- The staff: many older men carry a long wooden staff, at once a walking stick, a goat-hook and a weapon against dogs.
- In the cold: a thick woollen blanket, often woven from their own animals' wool.
The women
Dark clothes: black or very dark skirts and long veils of wool or cotton, a striking contrast with the bright colours of the farming communities around them.
- Silver: heavy anklets, bangles, necklaces and large earrings.
- Tattoos: older women often have them on their hands, arms, neck and chin, in patterns that have meaning within the family and the clan.
- Veils: married women keep them drawn in front of older men of the family and strangers.
Rajasthan and Kutch compared
Kutch: further south, Rabari women are famous embroiderers, stitching mirror work and chain stitch into blouses, bags and dowry cloths.
- Rajasthan: the embroidery is plainer, but look for a beautiful stitched bag or a camel's decorated saddle cloth.
- Travelling on: if you continue to Kutch, look for the differences, because each group of Rabari dresses in its own way.
- Read more: our guide to Rajasthani dress and textiles explains what the colours mean.
A morning with the flock, step by step
- Start
- About 8.30 or 9 in winter
- Allow
- Two to three hours
- Walking
- An hour or two, at an easy pace
- Meeting point
- Wherever the flock is grazing
- Book ahead
- Arranged the day before
Late morning, after the leopard drive
When: after your dawn drive and breakfast, at around half past eight or nine in winter, when the flock is out and the herder has found his rhythm.
- Where: your naturalist or guide drives you to meet the family where they are grazing that day, often at the foot of a granite hill or on a field after the harvest.
- No ticket: there is no fixed meeting point. The arrangement is made the day before with a family we know.
Walking at the pace of the herd
The route: across stubble, through scrub and along the base of the rocks, for an hour or two.
- The animals: goats graze as they move, sheep bunch together, and a few camels may browse on the thorn trees nearby.
- Names: the herder whistles and calls, and every animal seems to know its own.
- What he shows you: a leopard's pugmarks in the sand, a cave on the hillside, the plants the goats love and the ones they avoid. Your guide translates.
Tea over a twig fire
The pause: the herder gathers a few dry twigs and makes tea in a small blackened pan, with milk from one of his goats or from a flask brought from home.
- How it comes: boiled with sugar and sometimes ginger, poured into a tiny cup or a steel bowl.
- How to take it: with your right hand, and take at least a sip.
- The conversation opens: about rain, grazing, children and, almost always, the leopards.
Leopards, losses and patience
Stories no naturalist can tell: the night a leopard took a calf from the courtyard, the female who has lived above the village for years, the cub found in a goat pen and returned to the hill.
- The real cost: herders here lose animals to leopards every year.
- Where the patience comes from: faith, long familiarity and the sense that the hills belong to the goddess as much as to them. Our journal piece on the leopards of Jawai explores this further.
Home to the village
If invited: the walk may end at the family's home, with the women, the children and perhaps a newborn kid or lamb.
- What you may see: how ghee is made, how buttermilk is churned or how wool is spun.
- Kept small: we keep this short and simple, and never arrive with a crowd.
- Then: back to camp for lunch and a long rest before the evening drive.
Where we arrange it
Jawai and the villages around Bera
The heart of it: around the Jawai Bandh reservoir, between Bera and Sumerpur, Rabari families graze the same granite hills where the leopards live.
- Herders as guides: the best camps employ them as guides and trackers.
- Where we arrange walks: through camps we trust, above all SUJAN JAWAI, whose Rabari-led walks are among the best in the area.
- Plan the stay: our things to do in Jawai list and guide to luxury hotels in Jawai explain the rest.
Narlai, under the white elephant
Where: about an hour from Jawai, Narlai sits beneath a great granite hill, where Rabari herders graze camels, sheep and goats on the slopes and stubble.
- The walk: from Rawla Narlai, the old hunting lodge of the Jodhpur royal family, through the fields with a local guide, often ending at a herding family's home.
- Good for: travellers who want temples and village life more than safaris.
Sadri and the camel herders of Kumbhalgarh
Where: near Sadri, on the Marwar side of the Aravallis below Kumbhalgarh, where Raika families keep herds of camels that browse in the forest and scrub.
- Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan: a local organisation that has worked with these herders for decades on camel health and herders' rights.
- The camel dairy: it makes milk products and crafts from camel wool.
- Book ahead: with notice we arrange a visit and a walk with a camel herd, which pairs well with the Jain temple at Ranakpur.
Rohet and the Marwar villages
Where: south of Jodhpur, Raika herders live alongside the Bishnoi in the villages around Rohet.
- The visit: the village safari from Rohet Garh often includes a herding family.
- Two ways of desert life: one morning shows both. Our Bishnoi villages page explains that side.
Pushkar in the month of Kartik
When: once a year, in Kartik, usually October or November.
- What happens: Raika and Rabari herders walk their camels from across Rajasthan to the fair at Pushkar.
- The scale: the biggest gathering of herders you will ever see, with trading, racing and decorated animals on the dunes.
- Plan it: our Pushkar Camel Fair page explains how we plan around it.
The camel, and why it needs the herders
What it did: for centuries the camel made life in the Thar possible, carrying grain, salt and cloth on the caravan routes, ploughing fields, drawing water and carrying soldiers.
Who kept it: the Raika and Rabari bred it, knew its illnesses and medicines, and kept the bloodlines.
- State animal
- Since 2014
- Protection law
- 2015, bans slaughter, limits export
- Shearing
- By hand, usually once a year
- Herds
- Shrunk sharply in recent decades
- The law: Rajasthan made the camel its state animal in 2014, and a law the following year banned its slaughter and restricted taking camels out of the state.
- Why herds shrank: tractors and trucks replaced the camel's work, grazing land was fenced, planted or taken for forestry, and young people left for jobs in the towns.
- An unintended effect: the protection law also made it harder to sell animals, so many families gave up.
- New value: herders and the organisations working with them now look to camel milk, wool, leather and tourism.
- How we choose rides: for a camel safari we choose owners who keep their animals well fed and rested, and who are paid fairly.
- How you can help: buy camel-milk products or a camel-wool rug from a herders' cooperative. Our journal piece on the camels of Rajasthan tells the full story.
The skill behind the herd
Plants: he knows which are medicine and which are poison.
Healing: he treats a wound with herbs and hot oil, and eases a difficult birth.
- Reading the bull: he knows the mood of a bull camel in the rut, when it froths at the mouth and is best left alone.
- Shearing: camels are shorn by hand, usually once a year as the weather warms, and the wool goes to local weavers for blankets and rugs.
- Brand marks: every family has its own, burned in a pattern that neighbours recognise at once.
A kitchen built on milk
Every meal: buttermilk, yoghurt, ghee and sweet milk tea, with bajra or wheat rotis, lentils and the season's vegetables.
Camel milk: drunk fresh by many herding families. It is slightly salty, lighter than cow's milk and said to be good for digestion.
- Festival days: sweets made with milk and jaggery.
- In winter: a rich, slow-cooked millet porridge.
- If invited to eat: accept a little, eat with your right hand and thank the family.
- Back at camp: most guests eat lunch there, where the kitchens cook Marwari dishes with milk, grains and vegetables from nearby farms.
- What to try: bajra rotis with white butter, ker sangri and gatte. Our Rajasthani food guide explains the dishes.
- Ask the kitchen: the best camps will happily cook the herders' recipes on request.
When to walk with the herders
October to February, the best months
Why: cool mornings, soft light and fields after the harvest that give the flocks good grazing close to the villages.
- The landscape: mustard and wheat grow green around the granite in winter.
- Leopards too: the easiest and most rewarding season for a walk is also the best for leopards.
- What to wear: in December and January the first hour is cold, so wear layers you can take off as the sun warms the rock.
March and April, the warming weeks
Shorter walks: days get hot quickly, so we walk earlier and keep it brief.
- Holi: in March, celebrated with great joy in the villages, and camels are often sheared around this time.
- Moving on: some families begin to think about moving their flocks if the grazing is poor.
May and June, the hottest months
Fierce heat: grazing is scarce and some families are away with their animals.
- At home: those who stay graze very early and very late.
- Our advice: we arrange only short walks at first light, and don't recommend this season for most travellers.
July to September, the monsoon
Green again: the hills turn green, the reservoir fills and the herds have fresh grass.
- Unpredictable: humid days and muddy tracks.
- Check first: many camps close or slow down in the monsoon.
Who will love it
Curious travellers and walkers: anyone interested in how people live with wild animals will find it unforgettable.
Photographers: the white and red of the herders against the granite, the dust of the flocks in the low sun, and old faces, always photographed with permission.
- Families: children of almost any age love the kids, the lambs and the baby camels, and the walking is easy.
- Honeymooners: couples on our honeymoon journeys often say it was the morning that made Jawai feel real.
- Not for: travellers who want a performance or a shopping stop, because there is neither.
- Limited mobility: the stony fields, loose sand and lack of shade make it harder, so we arrange a shorter visit to a family near the road, or a drive to watch a flock come home at dusk.
- Jawai or Ranthambore: our Big cats and birds journey shows how to do both.
Etiquette and ethics on the walk
Ask before photographing: anyone, and especially women. Many older Rabari women prefer not to be photographed. Accept a no with a smile.
No cash in hand: never offer money directly to the herder or to children. We pay the families fairly through the camp or our guide, agreed in advance.
- Follow the herder: keep your voice low, and never walk between him and his animals or try to drive the flock.
- Hands off: don't touch the animals unless invited, and never pick up a kid or lamb without asking. The mother may follow you.
- Never alone in the hills: always with a local guide, and never at dawn or dusk, when leopards are active.
- Accept the tea: drink at least a sip. Refusing hospitality is far ruder than leaving a cup half full.
- Dress: modestly, in muted colours, with closed shoes, a hat and sunscreen.
- Say thank you: if the herder offers milk, ghee or a woven blanket for sale, buying it is a good way to do so. A greeting of ram ram is warmly received.
How we arrange it, and what it supports
Trusted guides only: we work through camps and guides with long relationships with the herding families, who employ local people as trackers and naturalists.
Agreed in advance: the day and the payment, with a small group and never a family who has not invited us.
- Length: usually two to three hours, fitted between the morning and evening leopard drives so your stay has a rhythm.
- The drives: our page on tiger and leopard safaris explains how we choose them.
- Who bears the cost: the leopards that bring visitors also take the herders' animals, so guests' money must reach the people who pay that price.
- The camps we choose: they support compensation for livestock losses, buy from local farmers and pay fair wages.
- Read more: our responsible travel page explains how we work, and Wild Rajasthan sets Jawai in the wider story of the state's people-friendly conservation.