The stillest month of the year
Then the first storm comes. Wind arrives first, then thunder, then a sudden, heavy rain on hot ground. The smell rises, the scent of rain on dry earth, which we call mitti ki khushboo, and which every Rajasthani will tell you is better than any perfume.
The lunar months: June spans the end of Jyeshtha and the start of Ashadh, the month of the rains.
The first half: as hot as May and sometimes hotter, with the hot wind blowing in the afternoon.
- Weather
- Very hot days, often above 40°C; humid and heavy in the second half
- Rain
- Pre-monsoon storms; the monsoon usually arrives late June to early July
- Crowds
- The emptiest month for international travellers
- Festivals
- Nirjala Ekadashi, Maharana Pratap Jayanti, Muharram in Ajmer
- Best for
- Seasoned travellers and determined photographers
- Pack
- Loose cotton, a hat, a light rain jacket, insect repellent
- Dust storms: they turn the evening sky ochre in Jodhpur and orange in Jaipur.
- The desert: around Jaisalmer and Bikaner it is harsh and white with heat.
- The second half: the air grows heavy and humid, clouds build in the south in the late afternoon, and the heat becomes sticky rather than dry. Everyone is waiting.
- The barest land: the wheat was harvested in April, and the fields have been empty and brown ever since.
- Low water: lakes and stepwells are at their lowest. In Udaipur the lakes may be low, especially after a weak monsoon the year before, and in the villages the women walk further for water.
- The khejri: the tough desert tree that holds the Thar together is one of the few green things left on the horizon.
- When the storm comes: usually in the last days of June in the south and east of the state, and in July in the far west.
- Instant relief: the temperature can drop by ten degrees in an hour.
Waiting for the monsoon
First to get it: the south-west monsoon usually arrives first in the hills of Vagad and Mewar and in Hadoti, around Banswara, Udaipur and Bundi, in the second half of June.
Jaipur: around the end of June or the first days of July.
The western desert: later still, often well into July.
- Arrives from
- The south and east
- Vagad, Mewar, Hadoti
- Usually the second half of June
- Jaipur
- Around the end of June or early July
- Western desert
- Later, often well into July
- Every year is different: some years it comes a week early, some years it stalls for weeks, and the whole state watches the forecasts.
- Pre-monsoon storms: short and dramatic, with dust first, then lightning, then a burst of heavy rain that is gone in half an hour.
- Relief and trouble: they can bring down trees and power lines and delay flights.
- Farmers wait: they will not sow until the real rains have soaked the ground.
- A small festival: the first good rain brings children running into the lanes, families frying pakoras and making tea, and old men standing in doorways with their faces turned up.
- The most joyful Rajasthan: be in a small town such as Bundi, Kumbhalgarh or Chittorgarh for the first storm, with wind, thunder and children dancing in the streets. It cannot be planned, only hoped for.
- Within days: the brown hills of the Aravallis show a first green haze, and the change that makes Rajasthan in July so lovely has begun.
The days of June
Nirjala Ekadashi and the water stalls
When: the eleventh day of the bright half of Jyeshtha, in late May or June.
The hardest fast: many devout Hindus go without even water.
- Free water: in the same spirit, people across Rajasthan set up stalls by the road to give water and sherbet to anyone passing.
- Why it matters: in a land where water has always been precious, giving it away is one of the oldest forms of charity.
- Ganga Dussehra: it comes just before, celebrating the descent of the Ganges from heaven.
Maharana Pratap Jayanti
When: by the Hindu calendar, the third day of the bright half of Jyeshtha, which falls in late May or June.
- Where: Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Kumbhalgarh, where he is believed to have been born, mark it with processions and gatherings.
- At Moti Magri: the statue of the Maharana in Udaipur is covered in garlands.
Muharram in Ajmer
When: in 2026 and 2027 Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year, begins in June. The dates follow the moon.
- In Ajmer: in Ajmer it is marked with processions of decorated tazias, models of the tomb of Imam Husain, carried through the streets on the tenth day.
- Respect: it is a solemn time, and we keep a respectful distance.
Rath Yatra, in June or July
When: the second day of the bright half of Ashadh, in late June in some years and in July in others, as it will in 2027. We confirm it each year.
- What happens: images of Jagannath, the lord of the universe, are drawn through the streets on great wooden chariots.
- In Udaipur: the procession sets out from the Jagdish temple near the City Palace.
Looking ahead to Teej
Festivals return with the rain: Teej, the women's festival of the monsoon, falls in July or August.
- What you see: women swing from trees and the sweet shops of Jaipur make ghevar.
- For rain, green hills and festivals: wait a month.
Ranthambore's last weeks before the monsoon
Closing: the core zones of Ranthambore stay open until the end of June, then close for the monsoon and reopen on 1 October.
The first half of June: the forest is as dry as it gets and water at its scarcest, so sightings at the lakes and waterholes can be excellent.
At the water: tigers lie in it through the day, and every animal in the park comes to drink.
- Hot and humid: and most of the tented camps have already closed for the season, so the choice of lodge is narrower.
- Early rain: if the first rains arrive early, the tracks can become muddy and plans can change at short notice.
- Monsoon zones: the forest department has in recent seasons kept some areas outside the core open during the monsoon, but the rules change, so we check them each time.
- Who it suits: determined photographers who handle heat well, not a first tiger safari.
- Jawai: in Jawai, many camps are closed, the reservoir is at its lowest and the landscape at its starkest, though the first storms over the granite are unforgettable.
- Sariska: Sariska usually closes its core zones for part of the monsoon too.
- Read more: our wildlife safaris page explains the seasons in the parks, and our journal piece on the tigers of Ranthambore tells their story.
Where to go in June
Mount Abu, the mountain in the clouds
Early June: Mount Abu is still crowded with summer holidaymakers from Rajasthan and Gujarat.
As the month goes on: the air grows heavy and the first monsoon clouds build over the plateau.
- Towards the end: the rains often arrive, cooling everything and filling the forest with the smell of wet earth.
- Rates: hotel rates ease once the school holidays end.
- What to do: walk around Nakki Lake in the evening and visit the Dilwara temples at opening.
Udaipur and the Monsoon Palace
Hot, then rain: Udaipur is hot and humid in early June, then usually among the first places in the state to feel the rain.
Sajjangarh: the hilltop palace that Udaipur families call the Monsoon Palace was built above the lakes to watch the clouds roll in.
- The whole point of it: a sunset there in late June, as the storms gather.
- The rest of the day: stay by the water and keep the City Palace for opening time.
- Read more: about the Monsoon Palace.
Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur
Hot and heavy: until the monsoon arrives, usually at the end of the month or in early July.
- First to green: the forest around the fort.
- Short, early visits only: unless you have come for the first rains.
- Ranakpur: the marble halls are cool inside at any season.
Bundi, for the first storm
Where we would most like to be: the monsoon usually reaches Hadoti before most of Rajasthan, and Bundi is the place to be when it does.
- The first half of June: very hot and heavy, with the stepwells at their lowest, which shows you how deep the old builders went for water.
- Then the storm: it comes over the hills, the blue lanes run with rain, and children dance in the streets below Taragarh.
- For the curious: rather than the comfortable. Stay in a haveli with thick walls and good cooling, and keep it to a night or two.
Jaipur at the very end of the month
Early June: fierce, with dust storms in the evening.
- Towards the end: the first pre-monsoon showers often arrive, and the whole city goes out to stand in them.
- For lovers of empty monuments: a few days at the end of June can be rewarding, especially from a palace hotel with a deep pool such as Rambagh Palace.
Where we would not go
At their hardest: Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Shekhawati, Jodhpur's surrounding desert and Kutch.
- Closures: many hotels and camps there close or reduce their services.
- Dangerous heat: in the middle of the day.
- If you must: keep the desert to a single night, and let the hotel staff advise you each day on the heat and the dust.
Should you come in June? An honest answer
For a first visit: we would almost always say no.
Why: you will spend most of each day indoors, the light is hazy, the land is bare, and the desert, one of the great reasons to come, is too hot to enjoy.
Who should not travel: small children and older travellers should not travel in this heat.
- Health: anyone with a health condition should talk to their own doctor first. Our page on health and safety in Rajasthan has general guidance.
- Seasoned travellers: those who know Rajasthan in winter come back for the empty forts, the gentle rates and a city that belongs entirely to its own families.
- Photographers: they come for the tigers at the water and for the drama of the first storms.
- When holidays fall now: for them we build short, slow journeys in the hills and by the lakes, with every sight at dawn and every afternoon by a pool.
- If your dates can move: wait a month for the green of Rajasthan in July and the romance of a monsoon in Mewar, or come in October, when the season opens and Ranthambore reopens.
- If they cannot: we will make June work, and we will be honest about what it can and cannot be.
Delhi and Agra at either end of the journey
Delhi, first half: in Delhi it is often fierce and dusty, with the dry loo blowing across the plains in the afternoon.
Delhi, second half: the humidity climbs as the monsoon approaches, and the rains usually reach the city around the end of the month, sometimes earlier or later.
- How we plan Delhi: a single night at each end, in a hotel with good cooling, with airport transfers and any sightseeing in the early morning or after dark.
- The Taj Mahal: see it at the very first opening, when the marble is still cool underfoot and the domestic summer visitors have not yet arrived.
- Between: spend the hours at the hotel, then walk out to Mehtab Bagh, across the river, at dusk.
- Early starts matter: school holidays bring Indian families to the monuments.
- Read more: our Agra guide explains how we time the visit, and our page on airports and flights explains how to connect into Udaipur or Jaipur without a long, hot drive.
Crowds, rates and closures
Quiet palaces: hotels in the plains are at their quietest, and rates are among the gentlest of the year.
Short notice: you can often choose the room you want and have it at short notice.
Empty monuments: at opening time.
- Rates
- Among the gentlest of the year
- Book ahead
- Two months for the hotel you most want
- Closed
- Most Ranthambore tented camps, desert camps
- Busiest
- Mount Abu, first half of June
- The exceptions: Mount Abu in the first half of the month, when the Indian school holidays fill it with families, and Udaipur, with some domestic visitors escaping the plains.
- Camps closed: most tented camps in Ranthambore and many in Jawai, and the desert camps around Jaisalmer, close for the summer.
- Maintenance: some heritage hotels use the quiet weeks to close a wing or the whole property.
- Flights: some to smaller airports stop for the summer.
- Our checks: we check every booking against these closures.
- When to book: a few weeks' notice is often enough, but we still suggest planning two months ahead for the hotel you most want.
The last mangoes and the first pakoras
Mangoes of the north: by June they arrive in the bazaars, fragrant and sweet, and every family has an opinion on which variety is best.
How we eat them: cold after lunch, or as aam ras with puris.
- Falsa: a small, sour-sweet purple berry, pressed into a deep red sherbet in early summer.
- Jamun: towards the end of June the first dark purple fruit that stains your tongue appears on handcarts.
- Keeping going: bel and khus sherbet, chhach and lassi, and the kulfi sellers are out every night.
- When the first storm breaks: the stoves are lit for onion and chilli pakoras, the mirchi bada of Jodhpur, hot kachori and sweet milky tea.
- A small ritual: if you are lucky enough to be here for it, your hotel kitchen will almost certainly join in.
- The dishes: our Rajasthani food guide explains them.
What to pack for June
Loose, light cotton and linen: in pale colours, with long sleeves to keep the sun off.
Sun protection: a wide-brimmed hat, good sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen.
- A cotton scarf: to cover your head and to wet in the afternoon heat.
- For the last week: a light rain jacket or a compact umbrella, and quick-drying clothes.
- Footwear: sandals that can get wet, and comfortable shoes that slip off for temples.
- A light cardigan: for Mount Abu in the evenings and for air-conditioned rooms.
- Small essentials: electrolyte sachets, a refillable bottle and insect repellent once the rains begin.
- The full list: see our packing list.
A June week in the hills of Mewar and Abu
- The shape: every day begins at dawn and rests through the afternoon.
- If you are in luck: the first monsoon storm will find you somewhere along the way.
Days one and two, Udaipur
Arrive: fly into Udaipur and rest by the lake through the first afternoon.
- Last light: a boat on Pichola.
- Next morning: the City Palace at opening time and the Jagdish temple, then a long, quiet day at the hotel.
- Sunset: drive up to Sajjangarh and watch the clouds over the hills.
Day three, Kumbhalgarh
The drive: about two hours into the Aravallis in the late afternoon.
- Dusk: walk a short stretch of the wall.
- Evening: stay for the light show if the evening is clear.
Day four, Ranakpur and Narlai
First light: the Kumbhalgarh ramparts.
- Before the heat: drive down to Ranakpur and walk the cool marble halls of the Jain temple.
- Evening: continue to Narlai, a village below a granite hill, for a night at Rawla Narlai, with dinner by lamplight.
Days five to seven, Mount Abu
The drive: about three and a half hours south, climbing out of the plains into the forest.
Three slow days: the Dilwara temples at opening, a dawn walk around Nakki Lake, the view from Guru Shikhar and the old temple at Achalgarh on a cool morning.
- Afternoons: long, with a book.
- If the monsoon arrives: sit out on the veranda and watch the clouds pour over the hills.
- Onward: drive down to Udaipur to fly out.
What we tell our cousins about June
Keep your plans flexible: storms can delay flights, block a road with a fallen tree or close a safari track for a day.
Sights at opening: plan every one for the first hours. By ten, it is time to head back.
- Choose hotels carefully: deep shade, a large pool and reliable air conditioning, and ask whether any part of the property is closed for maintenance.
- Respect the heat: drink steadily, cover your head and rest through the afternoon.
- Before you come: read our journal piece on summer in Rajasthan.
- Love the idea of the rains? Consider coming a month later, when the hills are green and the festivals return.