Sikar

The story of Khatu Shyam reaches back, in legend, to the Mahabharata. Barbarika — said to be the son of Ghatotkacha and grandson of Bhima — carried three arrows powerful enough to end the entire war single-handed, and he had vowed to fight for whichever side was losing. Tradition holds that Krishna, seeing such a vow would doom the Pandavas, came disguised as a brahmin and asked the young warrior for his head. Barbarika gave it up smiling, and Krishna blessed him to be worshipped in the age of Kali under Krishna's own name, Shyam. The white marble shrine and the nearby Shyam Kund still draw enormous crowds of pilgrims.

Set among the Aravalli hills, this hill shrine, revered by devotees as an ancient Shakti Peeth, is wrapped in folklore. The goddess, villagers say, was born Jayanti Bai and adored her brother Harsh. One day at the well she quarrelled with her sister-in-law over whose water pot should be lifted down first, and Harsh absent-mindedly reached for his wife's. Hurt, Jayanti walked away into the hills to meditate; when Harsh came to coax her back and failed, he too settled on a neighbouring peak in penance. Another tale holds that a swarm of bees routed Aurangzeb's soldiers, after which the emperor apologised and sent oil for the temple's undying lamp.

A short drive from Sikar, this tenth-century Shiva temple crowns an Aravalli hill of nearly 3,000 feet. Local belief ties it to Harsh, the brother of Jeen Mata, who is said to have turned to Shiva on this very ridge after his sister renounced the world, and who came to be venerated as Bhairav. The main shrine is said to have been raised in the Mahameru style. Aurangzeb's campaign left it badly damaged, yet the fallen pillars and carved stone still hint at its old grandeur. The sweeping view and the giant wind turbines turning nearby are today's biggest draw.

Roughly thirty kilometres from Sikar town, Laxmangarh Fort is counted among Shekhawati's proudest landmarks. Rao Raja Laxman Singh of Sikar had it built in the nineteenth century; the year is usually given as around 1805, though sources do not agree on it. What makes it unusual is its footing: the fort rests on huge scattered boulders, so the hill itself seems to rise into ramparts. Climb to the top and the whole town unfolds below like a drawn map, its painted havelis, bazaars, lanes and temples all held in a single glance.

A little way out of Sikar, the quiet fort of Devgarh sits on a hilltop, said to have been raised by Rao Raja Devi Singh in 1787 — sources differ on the year. It came a century after Sikar's founding, late in the principality's story rather than early. By tradition it worked as a watchpost and strategic base: sentries could follow movement for miles across the plain, and in dangerous times the royal family had a safe place to withdraw to. Cannons have given way to cameras now. The morning climb, the crumbling bastions and the sunrise from the ramparts make it a favourite with trekkers and photographers.

Near Neem Ka Thana, Ganeshwar Dham belongs equally to archaeology and to faith. Excavations here have turned up traces of a Copper Age settlement that some accounts date earlier than the Indus Valley civilisation, though scholars still argue over the dates; copper tools and beads suggest a working community of craftsmen thousands of years ago. Legend remembers the place as the retreat of the sage Galav. Its centrepiece is the Galav Kund, where sulphurous hot water rises from within the hills and flows around the clock, and where bathers have long believed a dip can clear stubborn skin ailments.