Ranakpur

We left Jodhpur early in the morning to head to Ranakpur.  Ranakpur is a village located near Sadri town in Rajasthan in western India.  

En route to Ranakpur, we visited the village of Salawas, the centre of weaving dhurries (rugs).  Roopraj Dhurry Ydyog, a co-op through which all the profits go to the artisans.  We met Nemi Chand and his family.  He is an artisan who demonstrated their weaving techniques.  

I bought the small dhurry that he is holding.  He told me his wife could get a new sari if I bought it 😊...I'm such a sucker!

We visited a magnificent white marble temple devoted to Adinath, a god in the Jain religion.  Jains believe in 'ahimsa', non-violence to all living beings.  Built in the 15th century, the temple has 1444 individually carved pillars.

 There was a monkey hanging around the temple seen by many in our group, but I didn't get to see it!

We arrived in Ranakpur and checked in our hotel, Hotel Aranyawas.  It was completely in the woods on the side of a mountain.  It was definitely one of my favorites.  

Before dinner, we had cocktails around a firepit.....(Wikipic)

Our group dinner!