{"id":4241,"date":"2021-02-19T19:21:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T19:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/?p=4241"},"modified":"2021-03-18T11:15:08","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T11:15:08","slug":"tales-of-death-in-jaisalmer-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/tales-of-death-in-jaisalmer-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Tales of death in Jaisalmer and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Deep in the Thar Desert in the far west of Rajasthan is a golden city. A fairy tale fort sits on a ridge overlooking the town, still home to many families whose houses cluster within its sheltering walls.<\/span><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"View
Jaisalmer Fort from Gadisar Tank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I loved Jaisalmer’s remoteness, its border-town mentality, and the beauty of its golden architecture. And I enjoyed the personal stories of life (and death) here, as told by our Brahmin guide Gaurav, who lives in the fort. I will talk about life here in a future post; today my focus is on the intriguing (to me) historical customs of sati<\/em> and jauhar<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sati memorials<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My interest was piqued by the memorials we saw on the shores of Gadisar Lake, also sometimes referred to as Gadisar Tank. This lies on the southern side of town, overlooked by the fort.<\/p>\n\n\n