Devi Jogmaya Temple is one of the key attractions in Barmer city of Rajasthan. Also known as Gadh Mandir in local, this temple is situated on top of a hill and takes a climb of couple of hundred steps uphill to reach to the main compound. This is an old temple in Barmer and is popular specially during Navaratri celebrations when the whole temple is beautifully decorated with lights.
Click here to read all our blogs for backpacking in India
We visited Devi Jogmaya Temple in mid-December. It was slightly cold in the evening but sun was still out and its mild heat made the climb quite comfortable, actually enjoyable for us to walk upstairs. Vehicles go only up to the bottom of the hill and after that you have to move up only through stairs. Considering that the streets leading to the bottom point are quite narrow, you may consider to park your vehicle a little far and walk up to the point from where stair steps begin.
Climbing upstairs is slightly tiring but you certainly would enjoy your walk as you would be negotiating across hundreds of steps. There are multiple points on the way where you can take a break and catch your breath. Actually, as you move up, your eyes also start catching a bird eye view of Barmer city and once you reach to the top, you will have an amazing view of Barmer city.
It takes around 20-30 minutes to reach to the entrance gate of Jogmaya Temple. Temple is super clean and well maintained. A two-story building is situated right in the middle of compound on top of the hill. Main deity is placed on first floor and stairs towards the right lead to the temple floor where you can have Darshan of Devi Jogmaya. Photography is not allowed inside the temple.
It is quite peaceful and calm at the top and the first floor, main temple, also has a small compound where you can sit and enjoy the calmness of the place. There were only few people in the temple and it was a pleasure to sit and roam around in the temple compound. Children too can enjoy the place as it was quite clean and courtyard was surrounded by boundary. My niece, Aashita, had a lot of fun playing around in the courtyard.
If you are visiting Barmer, you may certainly consider to visit this temple. You will feel a lot light both by the peaceful atmosphere of the temple and also by loosing calories as you will climb up hundreds of steps.
How to reach Jogmaya Gadh Mandir, Barmer
Temple is situated around 1.5 Kms from Barmer Railway station and you can hire an auto that will drop you to the bottom of hill. From there, you can walk upstaris. In case you do not have a lot of luggage, you can also consider to walk as you would be passing through the main market of Barmer and could well spend your time shopping on the way.
Quite an offbeat place.. never been to Rajasthan.. wanna go.. 🙂
Rajasthan is an amazing place, actually Anu’s home state also:)