What January feels like
In Hindi we call the deep winter poh and magh, after the lunar months of Pausha and Magha. Our grandmother used to say that the cold of Magh gets into the bones of anyone who sleeps without a quilt. She was right.
Cold dawn, warm noon: that swing between a chilly morning and a sunny midday is the whole character of January.
Houses built for summer: thick walls and stone floors keep Rajasthani homes cool in summer, and in January those same walls hold the night chill well into the morning.
- Weather
- Sunny days of about 20 to 24°C; nights from about 8°C in Jaipur to near freezing in the dunes
- Rain
- Very rare
- Crowds
- Busy, busiest in the first week
- Festivals
- Makar Sankranti on 14 January, the Bikaner Camel Festival, the Jaipur Literature Festival
- Best for
- First-timers, photographers, birders and festival lovers
- Pack
- Layers, a down jacket, a shawl, gloves and warm socks
- Warm rooms: palace hotels light fires in the evening, and a good room will have a heater and a heavy razai, the cotton quilt that Jaipur is famous for.
- Glorious days: rain is very rare and the dust of summer has long since settled.
- Clear air: from the ramparts of Mehrangarh you can see the edge of the Thar.
- Stronger colours: the pink of Jaipur, the gold of Jaisalmer and the blue of Jodhpur's old city all glow in the low winter sun, which is why photographers love this month almost as much as February.
- Wedding season: it runs through the cool months, so you may hear a brass band in the lanes at night and see a groom riding to his bride's house on a white horse.
- Families on the move: relatives visit each other, students are home, and the domestic holidays around New Year and Republic Day fill the famous places.
- Lively, social, colourful: if you want quiet, you will find it, but you have to plan for it, and that is what we are here for.
Weather across Rajasthan in January
Jaipur and the east
Mornings: in Jaipur they start near 8°C and can feel colder on the ridge at Amer.
- Afternoons: sunny and pleasant, usually around twenty degrees.
- Evenings: they cool quickly once the sun drops behind Nahargarh, so dinner on a rooftop needs a shawl and, ideally, a brazier.
- Month by month: our best time to visit Jaipur guide covers the city itself.
The Thar: Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer
The biggest swing: the desert changes most between day and night.
- Days: bright and comfortable in Jaisalmer and Bikaner, often in the low twenties.
- Nights: in the dunes they can drop close to freezing, and Bikaner has recorded temperatures below zero in January.
- Desert camps: still wonderful, as long as the camp knows what it is doing: thick quilts, hot water bottles and a fire to sit by after dinner.
Shekhawati
Among the coldest: the painted towns of the north are some of the coldest places in the state.
- Mornings: in Mandawa they can be close to freezing and sometimes foggy.
- By ten: the sun is warm and the light on the frescoes is soft and even.
- The great pleasure: dinner by a fire in a castle courtyard.
Mewar, Udaipur and the Aravallis
A little milder: Udaipur has crisp mornings and sunny, pleasant days.
- Valley mist: at dawn it often fills the valleys around Kumbhalgarh, so the great wall seems to float above a white sea.
- On the lake: a boat on Pichola at sunset needs a warm layer.
Mount Abu
Properly cold: Rajasthan's only hill station has frost on the grass on the coldest mornings.
- Clear views: the views from Guru Shikhar are among the best of the year.
- For the dawn walk: bring gloves and a hat for the circuit of Nakki Lake.
- More: read our Mount Abu guide.
Delhi and Agra
Morning fog: most journeys begin in Delhi, and the northern plains often lie under thick fog early in the day, especially in the first half of the month.
- Delays: flights and trains can run late.
- The Taj at dawn: it may be invisible, then appear slowly as the mist lifts, which is magical if you are patient.
- Our habit: we build a little slack into the first and last days of every January journey for exactly this reason.
Makar Sankranti, the day the sky fills with kites
When you sever someone's string, you shout woh kata, and the cry rings across the rooftops all day long. Children chase the fallen kites through the lanes. Older men argue about technique. Somebody's grandmother sends up trays of sweets.
A solar festival: one of the very few Hindu festivals that follows the sun rather than the moon, which is why its date barely moves.
What it marks: the sun's passage into Makara, the sign of Capricorn, and the start of its journey north.
- Date
- 14 January in most years, occasionally the 15th
- Follows
- The sun, not the moon
- Marks
- The sun's entry into Makara, Capricorn
- Biggest in
- Jaipur
- Sweets
- Til ke laddoo, gajak, pheeni
- Jaipur's biggest winter day: schools and many shops close, families invite friends to their rooftops, and the whole city spends the day flying kites.
- The kites: small, square and made of tissue paper on bamboo.
- The string: called manjha, it was traditionally coated with ground glass so that it can cut a rival's line.
- The sweets: til ke laddoo, sesame and jaggery balls, and gajak, the brittle sesame sweet of winter. Many Jaipur homes also make pheeni, fine threads of fried dough soaked in sweet milk.
- A day of giving: in the morning, families feed cows, give warm clothes and food to those in need, and visit the temples.
- Holy water: pilgrims bathe in the lake at Pushkar and in rivers across the state.
- After dark: the kites come down, paper lanterns float up, and fireworks crack over the old city until late.
- How to see it: from a haveli roof in the old city, with a host family who will teach you to launch a kite and laugh when it falls into the neighbour's courtyard.
- What we arrange: exactly that, with lunch on the roof and a guide who explains what is happening.
- Read more: our pages on Makar Sankranti and kite flying with a Jaipur family go deeper.
- Mind the string: glass-coated string is sharp, so wear the finger guards we bring, and watch for loose line in the lanes if you are walking or riding.
Fairs, festivals and big days in January
The Bikaner Camel Festival
Why Bikaner: it breeds some of the finest camels in India, and every January the state holds a festival in their honour.
The camels: decorated with mirrors, tassels and patterned shearing, then paraded, raced and judged.
- Around them: dances, folk music, turban-tying contests and a fireworks finale over the sandstone of Junagarh.
- Dates: set each year by the state tourism department and usually around the middle of the month, so we confirm them each year before we plan.
- Book early: Bikaner is at its busiest. Read about the Bikaner Camel Festival.
The Jaipur Literature Festival, late January
About five days: late in the month, writers, readers and arguments arrive in our city from all over the world.
The days: sessions run from morning to evening, and the conversations spill into the lawns and the cafes.
- The evenings: music.
- Rooms go early: it is busy, clever and great fun, and it fills Jaipur's best rooms well in advance.
- Tell us early: if the festival is your reason for coming. Our Jaipur Literature Festival page explains how we plan it.
Republic Day, 26 January
A national holiday: the great parade is in Delhi, along Kartavya Path.
- Beating Retreat: on 29 January, with military bands at sunset.
- Delhi that week: security is tight for days around both, and some roads and monuments close, so we route guests around the capital.
- In Rajasthan: schools and offices hold flag-raising ceremonies in the morning, and the long weekend fills the hotels.
The Nagaur cattle fair
When: late January or February, depending on the lunar calendar. We confirm the dates each year.
What: thousands of bullocks, camels and horses gather on the grounds outside Nagaur.
- A working fair: a place to buy and sell animals, and much less staged than any festival.
- The scene: herders camp with their animals, women bargain over brass and leather, and the evening smells of woodsmoke and millet bread.
- Read more: see the Nagaur Cattle Fair page.
Polo and the wedding season
Polo: the Jaipur season opens in the cool months and is still under way in January.
- An elegant afternoon: a weekend match is one of the most elegant things you can do in the city. Read about the Jaipur polo season.
- Weddings: the cool months are the great season for them, which brings music to the lanes.
- Full hotels: occasionally a large family takes over a whole palace for a week. We check for this when we book.
Basant Panchami and the Desert Festival, if the moon is early
Both lunar: their dates move with the moon each year.
Basant Panchami: the festival of spring usually falls in February, but in some years arrives late in January, when the city wears yellow.
- The Jaisalmer Desert Festival: held around the full moon of Magh, normally in February.
- Early years: in some years, such as 2026, it begins in the last days of January. In 2027 it is expected in February, and we confirm the dates each year.
- Details: our February guide has them.
Where January is at its best
Jaipur for the kites
If your dates include 14 January: spend them in Jaipur. Nowhere else celebrates Sankranti with quite such joy.
- The rest of the city: Amber Fort at opening time on a crisp morning, the bazaars in the late-morning sun, and the polo ground at the weekend.
- Where to stay: Rambagh Palace for its lawns and log fires, or Samode Haveli to be inside the walls on kite day.
Bikaner and the deep desert
What January brings: the camel festival, the vultures and eagles of Jorbeer, and the gold-painted halls of Junagarh in clear winter light.
- Where to stay: Laxmi Niwas Palace or Narendra Bhawan. Ask for a heater.
- Deshnoke: plan the Karni Mata temple for a little after sunrise rather than before, when the cold is sharpest.
Jaisalmer and a night on the dunes
Calmer later: the second half of January is quieter than the first, and the fort glows in the low sun.
- A night on the dunes: a well-run camp such as Suryagarh or The Serai, with a fire, Manganiyar music and a sky full of stars, is one of the great experiences of a Rajasthani winter.
- Choosing a camp: our desert camps guide explains how.
Shekhawati in the winter sun
Quieter than you would expect: once the Christmas and New Year visitors have gone.
- When to walk: the haveli lanes of Mandawa and Nawalgarh from ten until three, when the sun is warm.
- Evenings: by the fire at Castle Mandawa.
Udaipur and the lakes
Crowds: busy in the first week after New Year and calmer after that. Weddings fill the lake palaces at weekends.
- On the water: take the boat in the late afternoon, when the sun warms the water.
- Mornings: keep them for the City Palace.
- Kites here too: they fly over the old city on Sankranti, and the rooftops around Lal Ghat become a happy battlefield.
Ranthambore for basking tigers
Bitterly cold: morning drives in an open jeep in Ranthambore are freezing.
- But worth it: tigers often lie out in the sun on rocks and open tracks on cold mornings, which can give lovely sightings.
- Permits: the first week, around New Year, is one of the busiest of the year. After that it is calmer.
Cranes, flamingos and the birds of the Thar
At Khichan, thousands of demoiselle cranes come down each morning to the grain the villagers have scattered for them for generations. The sound of them arriving, a soft, rolling call like distant conversation, is one of the great wildlife moments of India.
Khichan: a village near Phalodi, between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. The cranes cost nothing but an early start. Our journal piece on the demoiselle cranes of Khichan tells the story.
Flamingos: Sambhar Lake, India's largest inland salt lake, often has its largest flocks in the winter months, when the shallow water turns pink with them.
- Cranes
- Khichan, near Phalodi
- Flamingos
- Sambhar Lake
- Wetland birds
- Keoladeo, Bharatpur
- Great Indian bustard
- Desert National Park
- Tigers
- Ranthambore, basking on cold mornings
- Leopards
- Jawai, on warm granite
- Bharatpur: at Bharatpur, the wetland of Keoladeo is full of wintering ducks, geese and waders, alongside the resident storks and herons.
- The great Indian bustard: January is one of the best months to look for one of the rarest birds on earth in the Desert National Park near Jaisalmer.
- Also in the desert park: harriers, eagles and sandgrouse.
- Planning a birding trip: our birding guide explains how we do it.
- Jawai: around Jawai, bar-headed geese graze the fields and mugger crocodiles bask on the banks of the reservoir in the morning sun.
- Jawai's leopards: they lie out on the warm granite in the late afternoon.
- Blackbuck: in the Bishnoi villages south of Jodhpur they graze in frosty fields at dawn, unafraid of the people who have protected them for centuries.
- Ranthambore in January: on cold mornings the tigers come out of thick cover to warm themselves on rocks and open tracks.
- The picture to carry home: a tigress stretched out above a misty lake.
- For the jeep: a down jacket, gloves and a scarf. The lodges add blankets and hot water bottles.
What our kitchens cook in January
Bajre ki roti: the winter bread of the desert, a thick flatbread of pearl millet, eaten with white butter, jaggery and a fierce garlic chutney.
Makki ki roti: in Shekhawati and the villages around Jaipur, cooks make it from maize and serve it with mustard greens in the same way.
Raab: ask for it in the desert, a warm drink of millet and buttermilk, or its sweeter cousin made with jaggery and ghee. It is what herders drink before a cold dawn.
- Sesame sweets: gajak and til papdi, made of sesame and jaggery, appear in every bazaar.
- Gond ke laddoo: rich balls of wheat, ghee, nuts and edible gum, given to new mothers and to anyone who needs strength in the cold.
- Moong dal ka halwa: shops in Jaipur fry this heavy, golden sweet of lentils and ghee for winter weddings.
- Gajar ka halwa: winter is the season for carrot cooked slowly in milk and ghee.
- Fresh from the fields: the green chickpeas, peas and fresh vegetables that the cool months bring to the markets.
- Learn more: our Rajasthani food guide explains the dishes, and a cooking class in a haveli is a warm way to spend a cold evening.
Crowds, rates and how far ahead to book
The first week: still the tail of the Christmas and New Year rush, when palace hotels are at their fullest and their highest rates.
After about the 6th: the crowds ease a little, then build again for Sankranti, the literature festival and the Republic Day weekend.
Weddings: they can fill a hotel without warning.
- Season
- High season all month
- Busiest
- The first week, after New Year
- Book ahead
- Six to nine months
- Rates
- Close to the highest of the year
- In short: every week of January is busy somewhere, and the best rooms go early.
- When to book: six to nine months ahead, and earlier for a particular suite, a lake-facing room in Udaipur or a desert camp on the night of a festival.
- Rates: at their winter level throughout the month, which means close to the highest of the year.
- What money buys: the right room and the right hour.
- How we spend our effort: on timing. Forts at opening, the bazaars before the shutters lift, and the long drives in the middle of the day, when the light is flattest and the car is warmest.
- Compare the months: our best time to visit Rajasthan guide sets January against the rest, and our winter in Rajasthan journey is built for exactly this season.
What to pack for a Rajasthani January
Pack in layers: the difference between six in the morning and two in the afternoon can be fifteen degrees, and you will take something off every hour until lunch.
A warm outer layer: a light down jacket or a warm wool coat for dawn at the forts, the jeep in Ranthambore and nights in the desert.
A shawl: pashmina or wool. It is the most useful thing you will carry, and you can buy a beautiful one here.
- For safaris and early boats: gloves, a warm hat and a scarf.
- Thin layers: cotton shirts, a fine wool jumper and long trousers or skirts that cover the knees for temples.
- Warm socks: for temples and the dargah, where you go barefoot on cold marble.
- Sun and dry air: sunglasses, sunscreen and lip balm. The winter sun is gentle but the air is very dry.
- Shoes: comfortable walking shoes that slip off easily.
- The full list: our packing list for Rajasthan has the rest.
A January week, the way we would plan it
- Who it suits: guests who are flexible about where Sankranti falls in their week.
- Fewer drives: swap the desert for Udaipur, or follow our ready-made Under the Thar Sky journey.
Day one, into Jaipur
Arrive: by air or the morning train from Delhi, leaving slack for fog.
- Afternoon: settle into your palace hotel and take a late lunch in the sun.
- Sunset: drive up to Nahargarh to watch it over the walled city.
- Evening: dinner by the fire.
Day two, Amer and the old city
Morning: Amber Fort as the gates open, wrapped in a shawl, then Panna Meena ka Kund in the warming light.
- Afternoon: a private walk through the bazaars of the walled city.
- On the way: a stop for hot kachori and a clay cup of chai.
Day three, kite day
If this is 14 January: spend it on a haveli roof with a Jaipur family, flying kites, eating sesame sweets and shouting woh kata until the lanterns rise at dusk.
- If not: a private tour of the City Palace and an afternoon at the polo.
- Fly a kite anyway: families fly them for days around the festival.
Day four, Shekhawati
The drive: north to Mandawa, about four hours, arriving for lunch.
- Afternoon: walk the painted havelis when the light is soft on the frescoes.
- Evening: by the fire in the castle courtyard.
Day five, to Bikaner
Morning: Nawalgarh or Fatehpur.
The drive: about three and a half hours west to Bikaner.
- Late afternoon: Junagarh.
- Evening: the old city lanes, with Bikaneri bhujia straight from the shop.
- Festival day: if the camel festival is on, this is your day for it.
Day six, the cranes and the dunes
The drive: an early start west to Jaisalmer, about five to six hours.
- The cranes: a detour to Khichan to see them come in, if you leave very early.
- Evening: your desert camp for sunset on the dunes, Manganiyar music and a night under heavy quilts.
Day seven, the golden fort
Sunrise: Gadisar Lake.
- Late morning: Jaisalmer Fort and its Jain temples once the cold has lifted, then the haveli lanes before lunch.
- Onward: fly from Jaisalmer if flights are running, or drive to Jodhpur the next morning.
What we tell our own cousins about January
Leave a day in hand: at the start and end of the journey. Fog in Delhi and Agra delays flights and trains, especially in the first half of the month.
Don't plan sunrise at every stop: a cold dawn is magical once or twice. After that, the late morning is kinder and the light is still lovely.
- Mind the lanes on Sankranti: be careful walking or riding. Loose kite string can be sharp.
- Carry socks for temples: bare feet on winter marble at seven in the morning is a test of faith.
- Coming for a festival? Tell us early. The dates of the fairs are fixed by the state each year, and the best rooms near them go first.
- Drink water: even though you don't feel hot. The desert air dries you out in every season.
Who will love January, and who might prefer another month
First-time visitors: everything is open, bright and celebrating.
Photographers: the light and the clear air are among the best of the year.
Birders: the wintering birds are all here.
- Festival lovers: kites, camels and the literature festival.
- Lovers of crisp mornings: and long, sunny lunches.
- Families with children: they love the kites and the camels.
- Couples: they love the fires and the desert stars.
- Less suited: those who feel the cold badly, or who want their palace to themselves.
- Same weather, fewer people: look at Rajasthan in February, our own favourite month, with softer mornings.
- Warmer days, lower rates: March is lovely too.
- Thinking of the end of the year: our page on Rajasthan in December explains the Christmas season.