Best time
October to March; combine with LongewalaEntry fee
FreeOpening hours
Approx 6:00 AM – 8:00 PM; aarti mornings and eveningsTanot Mata Temple, 120 km from Jaisalmer near the India-Pakistan border, is one of Rajasthan's most extraordinary shrines — a temple wrapped in battlefield legend and maintained, uniquely, by the Border Security Force. During the 1965 war, the area around the temple was pounded with artillery; by soldiers' accounts some 3,000 shells fell in the vicinity, yet the temple stood untouched — and many shells simply failed to explode. The pattern repeated in 1971. Defused shells from those bombardments are displayed today in a glass case within the temple museum, and soldiers posted along this frontier regard Tanot Mata — an incarnation of the goddess Hinglaj — as their guardian.
The BSF took over the temple's care after 1965; jawans serve as its priests, conduct the daily aartis, and manage the complex with military neatness. Visiting feels unlike any other temple experience in Rajasthan — devotional and patriotic in equal measure, with the borderland's immense silence all around. A visit takes 30–45 minutes; the small museum of shells and war photographs is unmissable, and the morning or evening aarti, when timing allows, is deeply atmospheric.
Tanot pairs naturally with the Longewala War Memorial 40 km away for Jaisalmer's classic border-tourism day. Carry photo ID, start early from the city, and note that the Babliyan border post beyond Tanot (for viewing the actual border fence) requires a permit arranged at the temple complex — ask on arrival, as availability varies.
History
The original shrine to Tanot Mata is centuries old, tied to the Hinglaj Mata tradition carried by desert communities, and the surrounding settlement predates modern borders — this area once lay on caravan roads toward Sindh. The temple entered legend in September 1965, when Pakistani artillery targeting the sector failed spectacularly around the shrine; the BSF adopted the temple thereafter, rebuilding and expanding it. The 1971 war added a second chapter of unexploded ordnance to its story. Today it stands as both an active place of worship and a monument to faith on the frontier, its priests in uniform.
Location
Frequently asked questions
During the 1965 and 1971 wars, hundreds of shells fell around the temple without destroying it — many never exploded and are displayed in the temple museum.