A word for hospitality, and a family's return
Moti Singh Rathore came back to his family's home country around Shergarh to build Manvar. He has spoken of the influence of his uncle, Fateh Singh Rathore, the forester remembered as the father of Ranthambore. It shows in land left to recover and in camps run with respect for the desert and its villages.
What manvar means: the Marwari word for coaxing, generous hospitality: the extra roti you must accept, the tea you cannot refuse, the request that you stay one more night.
- The name
- Manvar, or manuhar, insistent desert hospitality
- Founded by
- Moti Singh Rathore, of the Shergarh area
- Family link
- Nephew of the forester Fateh Singh Rathore
- The land
- A private desert reserve of several hundred acres
- Where you feel it most: at a Marwari wedding, where hosts walk the rows of guests with sweets and ghee and refuse to take no for an answer.
- Why it mattered: in a desert where food and water were scarce, sharing them generously was the highest honour. A traveller arriving at dusk could expect a meal and a bed.
- Old Rathore country: Shergarh is a land of small forts, farming hamlets and grazing on the western edge of Marwar, where the Jodhpur farmland gives way to the true Thar.
- Local people: many of the staff come from the surrounding villages. Our Manvar guide tells the wider story of the area.
Three ways to stay, and how to choose
Sevan, the desert camp
What it is: the original camp, a circle of safari-style tents in the dunes, named after sevan grass, the best fodder of the desert.
- Comforts: proper beds, attached bathrooms with hot and cold water, and heaters on winter nights. A few tents are air-conditioned, the rest cooled by fans and the desert air.
- The mood: sociable and classic, with meals served together in a central dining tent and music by the fire.
- Season: the cool months only, roughly October to March.
Kumat, the Thar serenity camp
What it is: a smaller, quieter camp a few hundred metres from Sevan, named after kumat, a thorny desert acacia whose seeds are cooked in desert kitchens.
- Comforts: larger air-conditioned tents, its own lounge and restaurant, and a pool.
- The mood: more spacious and solitary. This is the camp we usually choose for couples and guests who want privacy.
- Season: the cool months, roughly from autumn to March. We confirm opening dates each year.
Shergarh, the desert resort
What it is: a small resort with air-conditioned rooms and an outdoor pool, about nine kilometres from the camps.
- Season: open over a longer season, from late summer into spring.
- Who it suits: travellers who want walls and air-conditioning rather than canvas, and anyone crossing the desert in the shoulder months.
- Shared pool: guests at the main camp can use the resort's pool.
How we choose for you
Couples: Kumat, for space and quiet.
- Families who enjoy company: Sevan, for the fire, the music and the shared dinners.
- Shoulder months: the resort, when afternoons can still be hot.
- Privacy above all: Manvar also sets up a private camp on its land. Ask us and we will check availability.
The desert here, read closely
A lived-in desert: the Thar is one of the most densely populated deserts in the world. Around Manvar, long low dunes roll between farmland and hamlets.
Colour: the sand is pale gold at noon and turns rose and copper as the sun goes down.
- Tracks in the sand: after a monsoon shower, beetles, lizards, foxes and birds cross the dunes, and our guides read their tracks like a newspaper.
- Khejri: the tree of life of the Thar. Its pods are cooked as sangri, its leaves feed goats and camels, and many families will not cut it green.
- Rohida and ker: the rohida, Rajasthan's state flower, blooms orange and yellow in late winter, and the leafless ker bush gives the berries for ker sangri.
- Phog and aak: phog binds the dunes with its roots, and aak, with purple flowers and milky sap, grows everywhere.
- Animals: chinkara at dawn, desert foxes and jackals at dusk, spiny-tailed lizards sunning outside their burrows.
How to spend a desert day
A jeep safari to the dunes
- When: late afternoon, by open 4x4 across sand tracks to a high dune.
- Why: birds, chinkara and village life on the way, then the sunset from the crest with something cold to drink. Our jeep safari page describes the routes.
A camel ride
- How: with a herder walking alongside, in the cool hours, with handlers who look after their animals.
- Longer: keen riders can ask for a longer camel safari with a picnic.
A village walk
- What you see: a family courtyard, round huts, grain stores and the underground tank that holds the monsoon rain.
- Etiquette: accept tea brewed over the fire, ask before photographs and give nothing to children.
A picnic in the dunes
- What happens: lunch under a khejri tree in the sand, with rugs, bolsters and hot rotis cooked on the spot. The simplest luxury, and one of the most memorable.
Music by the fire
- Who performs: Kalbelia dancers and Manganiyar and Langha musicians from the desert communities.
- Then: the lights go off and the stars come out. Our stargazing page tells you what to look for.
The people and music of the Shergarh desert
The Manganiyars: Muslim hereditary musicians who for centuries sang for Rajput and other patrons at births and weddings, playing the bowed kamaicha. Read about Manganiyar music.
The Langhas: another musician community, known for the sarangi and the double flute.
- The Kalbelias: once snake-charmers, famous for a whirling dance in black skirts to the pungi, a gourd pipe. UNESCO recognises their songs and dances. Read about Kalbelia dance.
- The villages: Rajput landholders, Bishnoi farmers, Raika and other herders, Bhil families, potters, carpenters and leatherworkers live side by side.
- Dress: men in white with large coloured turbans that signal their community, women in wide skirts and odhnis, long veils, with heavy silver jewellery. Ask your guide to explain what you see.
Food in the desert
Dinner: usually a Rajasthani spread of dal baati, baked wheat rolls broken into lentils and ghee, with ker sangri, gatte ki sabzi, kadhi and bajra rotis from the fire.
On the side: garlic chutney and white butter, the two things every desert cook keeps close.
- Meat: laal maas, fiery red mutton, at theme dinners and Rajput feasts.
- Sweets: churma, lapsi and malpua, sweet pancakes fried in ghee.
- Breakfast: poha or parathas with fresh curd in the morning sun.
- How it is served: set meals in the main camp's dining tent, a menu at the serenity camp and the resort, and theme dinners on the dunes.
- Dietary needs: tell us in advance and the camp kitchen will cook for you. Our ker sangri piece explains the great dish of the desert.
Rest in the desert
Pools: the serenity camp and the resort have pools, and main-camp guests can use the resort's. A swim after a dusty jeep drive is a real pleasure.
- Treatments: simple massages may be available. Offerings change, so we confirm before you travel.
- Slow hours: an afternoon nap in a cool tent, a book in the lounge and an early night are the best wellness the desert offers.
- Longer wellness: our spas and Ayurveda page explains dedicated retreats elsewhere in Rajasthan.
Detours worth making
The cranes of Khichan
What: thousands of demoiselle cranes fly in from Central Asia each winter and are fed by the villagers of Khichan, near Phalodi.
- When: the winter months. Go early in the morning.
- Read more: our journal on the demoiselle cranes of Khichan.
Lohawat and the Bishnoi
- What: a Bishnoi temple in the heart of the community's country. Our Bishnoi villages page explains their faith.
Pokaran and Ramdevra
- What: an old fort at Pokaran and, nearby, the shrine of Baba Ramdev, the folk saint revered by Hindus and Muslims alike as Ramdev Pir.
- When it is busy: the monsoon month of Bhadrapada, when pilgrims walk here from across Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Leaving Jodhpur well
- The plan: an early morning at Mehrangarh or a last walk in the old city, then the road west. Our Jodhpur to Jaisalmer route guide has the stops.
When to come
October and March: warm sunny days, pleasant nights and afternoons that can still be hot.
November to February: perfect days and cold nights. Tents have heaters or warm bedding, and you will want a jacket by the fire.
- Camp season
- Roughly October to March
- Resort season
- Longer, from late summer into spring
- Coldest nights
- December and January, near freezing
- Darkest skies
- Moonless nights, November to February
- Closed
- The camps close in the summer heat
- April to June: very hot, with dusty winds. The camps close.
- Monsoon: occasional heavy showers, a brief green flush on the dunes and, in a good year, wildflowers.
- Festivals: the Jaisalmer Desert Festival in January or February, and the Rajasthan International Folk Festival at Mehrangarh in October. We confirm dates each year.
The night sky over the dunes
Why it is so dark: far from any city, with dry, dust-free air in winter, this is one of the darkest skies you can reach easily in Rajasthan.
- What you see: the Milky Way like a band of smoke, shooting stars and satellites sliding across every few minutes.
- Desert names: the Plough is the Saptarishi, the seven sages, and the Pole Star is Dhruv tara, by which herders once kept direction at night.
- The moon: a full moon turns the dunes silver, bright enough to walk by, but washes out the fainter stars.
Travelling lightly in the desert
Water: every litre is pumped from deep underground or trucked in, and the villages depend on the same supply. Short showers and reused towels are a genuine kindness.
Plastic: carry a refillable bottle, take wrappers back to camp and never leave anything on a dune.
- Tracks: stay on the tracks your driver uses. Tyre marks on fragile grass can last for years.
- Quiet: music by the fire is part of the evening, but loud speakers carry far, and the hamlets go to bed early.
- The land: much of the land around the camps has been set aside to let the native desert recover. Our page on travelling responsibly sets out how we work.
Who Manvar is for
Road travellers: anyone crossing the desert by car who would rather spend a night in the dunes than five hours in one stretch.
Couples: a fire, a quiet tent at the serenity camp and a sky full of stars.
- Families: children will talk about the camels, the jeeps and the dancers for years.
- Photographers: sand, people and light without the crowds of the popular dunes near Jaisalmer.
- Not for you if: you need a full hotel every night, a gym, a long menu or a lively bar. Stay in the cities and see the desert on a sunset drive instead.
- Compare: our guide to luxury desert camps sets Manvar beside The Serai and the camps near Jaisalmer.
How Manvar fits our journeys
Under the Thar Sky: our Under the Thar Sky journey gives Manvar one night between two in Jodhpur and two in Jaisalmer.
Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer: the Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer journey can add Manvar on the road west.
- Before: two nights at RAAS Jodhpur or Umaid Bhawan Palace, with Mehrangarh at opening time.
- After: a fort-view stay in Jaisalmer, or Suryagarh on its edge.
- Further north: Bikaner is about four hours away, so Manvar can link a wider desert circuit.
Getting there
The usual rhythm: leave Jodhpur mid-morning, arrive for lunch, leave after breakfast the next day.
- From Jodhpur
- About 110 km, two hours
- From Jaisalmer
- About 175 km, three hours
- From Bikaner
- About 216 km, four hours
- Nearest airport
- Jodhpur (JDH)
- Nearest railhead
- Jodhpur
- With a chauffeur: most guests travel with a private car and driver, who knows the turning from the highway.
- Planning: our guide to road distances and drive times helps with each leg.
What we tell friends before a desert camp
Pack layers: days are warm, but winter nights are cold and the temperature falls fast after sunset.
Protect your skin: a scarf or soft cap, sunglasses, lip balm and a good moisturiser. The air is very dry.
- Carry a torch: camps keep lights low so you can see the stars.
- On a camel: lean back as it stands and forward as it kneels. Hold on, and enjoy it.
- Leave the drone at home: desert silence is what everyone has come for.
- Arrive in daylight: a camp is far easier to find, and to enjoy, before dark.