Sachiya Mata Temple
An eighth-century hilltop complex reached by a covered stair of carved arches, still an active shrine rather than a monument.
- Region
- Rajasthan
- Best time
- October to March. November to February is the best of it: warm afternoons, cold clear nights.
- How long
- An afternoon and evening from Jodhpur, or one night at a desert camp.
- Journeys
- 6 through Osian
Osian is the closest the Thar comes to Jodhpur — sixty-five kilometres of increasingly empty road, then sandstone temples on a low hill and dunes beginning almost at their feet. It was a caravan town on the route between Gujarat and Central Asia, rich enough in the eighth century to build sixteen temples, and quiet enough since to keep most of them.
For travellers it solves a specific problem: Jaisalmer's dunes are a five-hour drive from Jodhpur, and Osian's are an hour. You can leave Jodhpur after breakfast, ride a camel at sunset, eat under the stars and be back for the next morning — or keep going west and treat Osian as the first night of a longer desert run.
Why visit Osian
The Sachiya Mata and Mahavira temples are among the oldest surviving stone temples in Rajasthan, and almost nobody is at them.
The dunes here are smaller than Sam, and much emptier. On most evenings you will not see another group.
The villages between the road and the sand are working Bishnoi and Rajput settlements, not demonstration villages — which changes what a visit feels like for everyone involved.
Quoted for your dates
Every journey to Osian is planned privately, so the price depends on your dates, pace and where you stay.
Places to visit in Osian
Mahavira Jain Temple
Built around 783 CE and continuously in use since, with the fine, restrained carving of the period before Rajasthan went ornate.
Osian dunes
Low, clean dunes ten minutes beyond the town — small enough to walk, empty enough to hear.
Bishnoi and Rajput villages
The settlements on the way out, where the black buck are protected by belief rather than by fence.
Osian safaris & desert experiences
The dunes an hour from Jodhpur, with the eighth-century temples on the way in.
16 of 16 shown
Desert & Safari
Jodhpur–Osian–Jaisalmer Desert Journey
Jodhpur · Osian · Jaisalmer · 6 days · 5 nights
Osian's dunes and Jaisalmer's are not the same desert — one is quiet and low, the other high and social. Six days, a night in each, and the two cities either side.
Price on request
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Desert & Safari
Jodhpur–Jaisalmer Heritage & Desert Tour
Jodhpur · Osian · Jaisalmer · 6 days · 5 nights
Six days weighted towards what people built here: Mehrangarh, the Jain temples at Osian, Jaisalmer's havelis, and the fort's still-inhabited lanes. The dunes are the reward at the end.
Price on request
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Adventure
Jodhpur–Osian–Jaisalmer Rajasthan Adventure
Jodhpur · Osian · Jaisalmer · 7 days · 6 nights
The same three places, done actively: a long ride out of Osian, dune walking at dawn, two nights camped rather than hotelled, and a jeep route through country without roads.
Price on request
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Private
Jodhpur–Jaisalmer Private Rajasthan Tour
Jodhpur · Osian · Jaisalmer · 7 days · 6 nights
Seven days with room in them: the same ground as the six-day route, one more night, and afternoons deliberately left empty so you can decide on the day.
Price on request
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Desert & Safari
Jodhpur–Jaisalmer Offbeat Rajasthan Experience
Jodhpur · Osian · Jaisalmer · 7 days · 6 nights
The western circuit taken off its rails: villages instead of monuments on three of the days, dune systems nobody drives to, and two nights camped rather than hotelled.
Price on request
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Slow Travel
Jodhpur–Jaisalmer Authentic Rajasthan Journey
Jodhpur · Osian · Jaisalmer · 8 days · 7 nights
Eight days across three places, which is slow by Rajasthan standards and deliberately so. Time in households, two desert nights, and no day that involves more than one long drive.
Price on request
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Desert
Osian Camel Safari
Osian dunes, 65 km from Jodhpur · Half day (4 hours)
The Thar's nearest dunes to Jodhpur — an hour's drive, an hour and a half on a camel, and back the same afternoon. Far smaller crowds than Jaisalmer, and a fraction of the travel.
Price on request
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Desert
Osian Sunset Camel Safari
Osian dunes · Evening (4–5 hours)
Out in the late afternoon, on the sand for the sunset, tea and a fire afterwards, back in Jodhpur by nine. The cheapest good sunset in Rajasthan, in every sense but the obvious one.
Price on request
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Desert
Osian Desert Safari
Osian town and dunes · Half day (5–6 hours)
Temples first, dunes second: the eighth-century Sachiya Mata and Mahavira complexes, then a jeep and camel run into the sand, with dinner before the drive back.
Price on request
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Desert
Osian Camel & Jeep Safari
Osian dune belt · Half day (5 hours)
The jeep takes the ground a camel cannot — deep sand track, a Bishnoi settlement, the wells — and the camel takes the last stretch into the dunes for the evening.
Price on request
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Desert
Osian Private Desert Safari
Osian dunes, private arrangement · Half or full day, private
Your own vehicle, camels and dinner setting at Osian, on your own clock. Particularly good with small children, who do not travel well on someone else's timetable.
Price on request
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Village Life
Osian Village & Desert Safari
Bishnoi and Rajput villages around Osian · Full day (7 hours)
A morning in Bishnoi country — the community that has protected trees and black buck here since the fifteenth century — then lunch in a village home and the dunes in the evening.
Price on request
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Desert
Osian Offbeat Desert Safari
Dune country north of Osian · Full day (7–8 hours)
North of Osian the dune belt keeps going and the villages thin out. This day drives into that, with a ruined stepwell, a seasonal salt flat and no infrastructure at all.
Price on request
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Village Life
Osian Non-Tourist Camel Safari
Working villages around Osian · Half day (4–5 hours)
A camel that works for a living, from a family that keeps it for that, ridden out across their own grazing. No programme, no performance, and tea wherever we are at four o'clock.
Price on request
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Desert
Osian Hidden Desert Experience
Osian district, unmarked routes · Full day with optional overnight
A full day built out of the parts of Osian nobody sells: a disused caravan route, a potters' hamlet, a dune ridge with a view thirty kilometres deep, and the option of staying out for the night.
Price on request
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Heritage
Osian Temple & Camel Safari
Sachiya Mata and Mahavira temples, and the Osian dunes · Half day (5 hours)
Two of the oldest stone temples in Rajasthan, both still in use, followed by a camel ride into the dunes below them. Eighth-century carving and an empty sunset in one afternoon.
Price on request
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Practical information for Osian
How to reach
65 km north-west of Jodhpur, about 1 hour 15 minutes by road. Jodhpur airport is the nearest, with daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai. We drive you door to door.
Plan your journey to Osian
Tell us your dates and what you want from Osian. We’ll design the route around them — private, at your pace.