Jaisalmer Museums and Art Galleries

(Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India)

Within Jaisalmer, there are a handful of museums which stand out as being worthy of a visit. Both the Desert Culture Centre and Museum and the Jaisalmer Folklore Museum are situated very near to each other and the admission price automatically includes entry to both of these museums.

If you are visiting the Jaisalmer Folklore Museum at the end of the day, take a stroll to the nearby hill and enjoy one of the predictably spectacular sunsets. The neighbouring Gadsisar Lake is also a very popular spot to visit, to simply relax, enjoy a picnic or hire a paddleboat.

Desert Culture Centre and Museum

Address: Gadi Sagar Road, Jaisalmer, India, IN
Tel: +91 02992 252 188
Near to the Tourist Reception Centre and the Gadi Sagar (Gadsisar Lake), the Desert Culture Centre and Museum is located on the Gadi Sagar Road, to the south-east of the Jaisalmer Fort. The Desert Culture Centre contains everything that you could possibly wish to learn about Rajasthani culture. Families will no doubt be interested to learn that the centre also features an evening puppet show, which takes place each day at 18:30 and is always a lot of fun, often drawing large crowds.
Open hours: daily 10:00 to 17:00
Admission: charge

Jaisalmer Folklore Museum

Close to the Tilon-ki-Pol gateway and just a stone's throw from the Desert Culture Centre and Museum, the Jaisalmer Folklore Museum offers a wealth of fascinating information relating to western Rajasthan and its extensive heritage. The Folklore Museum itself was founded in 1984 and contains a wealth of paintings and photos, opium bottles, Indian musical instruments, ancient coins and a huge amount of folk art, which often depicts temples and camels in some shape or form.
Open hours: daily - 08:00 to 18:00
Admission: charge, concessions

Government Museum

Address: Police Line Road, Jaisalmer, India, IN
The Government Museum lies of the far western side of Jaisalmer Fort and a matter of metres to the south of the RTDC Hotel Moomal, and further south of the Jawahar Niwas Palace. Here visitors are able to enjoy an interesting, albeit fairly small, collection of fossils (marine and wood) and geological displays, collected from around Jaisalmer and throughout the Rajasthan region. All of the exhibits are very well captioned in various different languages and some of the most prized fossils date back more than 150 million years ago, to the Jurassic period. Also of interest at the Government Museum are a number of 12th-century sculptures from the historical townships of both Lodurva and Kiradu.
Open hours: Saturday to Thursday - 10:00 to 16:30
Admission: charge, free on Mondays