An entrepreneur and an expert in traditional and international cuisines, Megha is Jaisalmer's most celebrated cook. Her innate cooking skills and passion even got her featured among the top contestants of India’s national cooking TV show - Masterchef India. She believes cooking to be the passion of her life. A regular host of Dine with Jaisalmer initiative, Megha and her family lives at their ancestral house inside the Fort. Their house is known as Suraj Haveli and it is claimed to be one of the oldest havelis of Jaisalmer Fort and is located next to the ancient Jain temple.

Located near the ancient Laxminath and Suraj temples inside the Jaisalmer fort, Shobha and Arvind Vyas house is a 600-year-old structure. Shobha Vyas is a textile entrepreneur by profession. Her family is a regular host under the initiative. Join them to witness the humble life of the fort residents and listen to the untold stories of fort while dining with the family.

Vimal Gopa and his family live inside the Jaisalmer Fort. Being a community leader, he is working to preserve the heritage, art and culture of Jaisalmer while promoting sustainable tourism. His house offers a glimpse into the diverse form of bustling life around the ancient Jain temple inside the Fort while being a riveting testimony of his passion in art, crafts and folk artistry.

Dine with Manoj Pol and family who are descendants of royal brahmin family residing in the Fort for generations since the time it was built. Guests are hosted at their 200 years’ old ancestral house KD Palace which offers best views of the Jaisalmer Fort and ancient balconies from where queens used to bless kings and their troops before any war. Being situated right in the heart of the Fort, KD Palace gives bird’s-eye view of other heritage structure spread across the city also. Its architecture that is hand-carved with yellow stone majestically blends with the beauty of the living Fort.

Nitesh Singh Bhati and family host guests at their 800-year-old house that is most famous for intricate ancient stone work inside the Jaisalmer Fort. Intricate yellow stone carvings in the house walks one through the rich legacy of ornately carved stone architecture of Jaisalmer.

Pankaj Chouhan and his family has generational connection with the living Fort. He is working in the tourist industry from nearly two decades. Meet him and his grandmother, listen the best stories of Jaisalmer from Pankaj and extraordinary tales of his family. Kotdi is 'an ancient community meeting courtyard' located inside the Jaisalmer fort and it still holds its historical significance for the communities living around it.

Sandeep regularly hosts tourists at his 100-year-old house in Kotdi Para which offers one of the most prolific views to the heritage city of Jaisalmer city. The best sunsets can be viewed from the ancient haveli of Sandeep.

The Trio Haveli is located in the old city of Jaisalmer. This meticulously restored, 100+ years old structure is a unique representation of the legacy of yellow stonework and architectural landscape of Jaisalmer. It has beautifully preserved the region’s rich culture while embracing modernity. The Haveli boasts of a wide and vibrant collection of antique artefacts representing a bygone era and the stories behind them. Dine at the terrace of the Haveli with host Ram Singh and enjoy the prolific view of the heritage city of Jaisalmer.

An ardent art lover, the family’s collection of fine, antique artefacts collected from remote locations of border towns of the Jaisalmer district is a testimony to their love for hand curated Rajasthani art.

Bux Khan comes from the internationally acclaimed Manganiyars community of folk musicians. He has tirelessly worked to preserve the historical, traditional and unsung folk music by forming Gunsar Lok Sangeeth Sansthan Jaisalmer. It is where talented poor children are trained in Rajasthani folk music free of cost. More than 500 children of Manganiyars community have attended this institute to learn the music and the institute also supports the folk artists who make traditional musical instruments like Kamaicha, Kartal and Morchang.

Sahil runs a hotel in the heart of Kalkar (artist) colony. This unique community consists of talented individuals including folk musicians, Kalbeliya dancers, and puppet makers. Many of them come from underprivileged families, and it has always been Sahil’s passion to support them, especially during significant events like marriages. Sahil even initiated a fundraising campaign to provide relief to these communities during the difficult times of Covid-19. His steadfast commitment to support the poor and vulnerable is reflected in his practice of providing employment and training to the underprivileged communities.

Jitendra Singh, a community person whose personality resonates with the culturally rich and magical region of Jaisalmer, is dedicated from decades to boost responsible desert tourism. Listen to the most endearing stories of Jaisalmer and its heritage from Jitendra Singh while enjoying traditional meal with his family.

The family is an expert in hand crafted stitch work of Jaisalmer specially of the traditional garments that is equally prevalent in the cross-border region of Sindh in Pakistan. Their work draws inspiration from the border towns of Jaisalmer. Savour the traditional meal of Jaisalmer while listening to the art work from the family.

From starting one of the Jaisalmer's first hotel to a famous bakery ' Wake and Bake Bakery', the family is known to be one of the pioneers of hospitality industry in Jaisalmer. The bakery is run by young female entrepreneurs of the family: Karishma, Prerna and Rashmi. Enjoy the stories of the family's legacy while experiencing the best traditional meals of Jaisalmer.

Mahendra hails from the city of Jaisalmer. Their beautifully curated home inspired from the heritage architecture of Jaisalmer has a guest room called "Pathiyal". Pathiyal offers a space with no doors and is designated area for entertaining guests. Enjoy meal with the family while traversing through the culture, lifestyle, architecture and cuisine of Jaisalmer in a lively atmosphere.

Living with her family at her ancestral house inside the Fort, Jyotika is a science student and the youngest host of Dine with Jaisalmer initiative. Her place is one of the oldest homes on one of the bastions which provides a prolific view of the city. Listen to the ancient stories of war and valour from Jyotika’s father including that of her grandfather who served indian Army.

Listen to the most intriguing tales of Jaisalmer while dining with Lokesh and his family that graciously hosts and interacts with guests about local food, lifestyle and Rajputi culture.

Nishant comes from the family of tourism entrepreneurs working in Jaisalmer since two generations. Nishant runs a restaurant known as Cafe the Kaku in Jaisalmer from 10 years. Situated on the sunset point, the place which has historic significance offers the most prolific city and fort view.

The family organizes custom trips for India , author travel  and offer Desert  safaris  in Jaisalmer to the most pristine places of the Thar desert since 2004. A unique experience to explore Indian and international cultural diversity in Jaisalmer, the family welcomes you to the most mesmerising traditional meal with them.

The family is a regular host and lives in Khabha village that boasts of ancient Khaba Fort. The Fort is very popular for being one of its kind and has a museum in it that has geological artifacts and a few age-old rocks. Living in the village Khaba since generation, Mohanpal and his family are always excited to share the untold stories of Khaba, a village which was a home to the Paliwal Brahmins.

Siyalio Ki Basti is a hamlet in the village Kanoi that is located close to the famous Rajkumari Ratnawati Girls School and amidst the beautiful dunes of Kanoi. The Sarpanch family is regularly hosting tourists as part of the Dine with Jaisalmer initiative. The ladies of the family are wonderful hosts besides being skilled in traditional embroidery handwork of Raali, Hurmuch and Kaanchi on textile and clothing.

Belonging to the community of Bada Bagh village, Neeraj and his family are working to preserve indigenous farm techniques of Jaisalmer. Popular for hosting guests regularly at the most picturesque community garden, the family loves sharing the history of legacy-old well, architectural heritage, security points of bygone era and 800-year-old water pipes that are still preserved by the community. Enjoy traditional lunch in one of these gardens of Bada Bagh amidst sound of birds and greens.

Explore the Thar culture, food and rare musical instruments particularly Algoja with Tagaram Bheel and family. Tagaram Bheel is himself an internationally acclaimed Algoja artist who can play the flute-like instrument with his nose and mouth flawlessly.

Sarpanch Village Mulana, Jaswant runs a beautiful boutique Desert Camp in Jaisalmer. A young leader, devoted to the development of his village, Jaswant is working to address challenges to water scarcity, girls’ education and women welfare. Enjoy traditional meals at his camp while he shares his journey, experiences and folklores of Thar with guests.

Haji Sattar Khan is regularly hosting tourists as part of the Dine with Jaisalmer initiative. He lives with his family in Pithodai village which is an 800-year-old village. They are expert in arid agriculture and traditional embroidery handwork of raali and hurmuch on textile and clothing. In agriculture, they grow cummin, mustard and isabgol (psyllium) along with other farmers in their village. The village has ruins of ancient houses of Paliwal community, which found existence in Jaisalmer since late 13th century. As per a local legend, the Paliwal community was believed to have evacuated the village overnight in early 19th century.

Dharmendra hails from Dewa village that is famous for the ancient Dewa fort. The Paliwal community also lived in the village before migrating from Jaisalmer in 1825. Delve deeper and discover the story behind village Dewa and its heritage structure while savouring the traditional home-made food with his family.

Parth Jagani is an organic farmer and environmentalist with deep knowledge about Jaisalmer's desert ecosystem. You can enjoy the best unique and organic tastes with less known stories of the desert ecology with Parth.

Bishnoi community in western Rajasthan is known for their love and devotion towards environment and wildlife protection. At Dholiya village, which is home to members of the community, Radheshyam Bishnoi is a younger community leader with passion for wildlife conservation through photography. Enjoy the lunch with stories of wildlife conservation at Radheshyam's home in the village Dholiya.

Pansari family has been in Khuri for more than 150 years. However, in 1968, after 3 years of continuous drought, the family then moved to Chennai. With hard work and dedication, the family rebounded and its younger generation restored Khuri Haveli in 2010. The heritage haveli is currently run as a boutique hotel by Anil Pansari who is devoted to promote sustainable tourism in Khuri. Listen to the endearing tales of village Khuri while savouring traditional meals.

Jaisalmer is incomplete without the mention of camels and the last traditional camel herders are precious people in the desert. Sumer Singh Bhati, is one such man fighting to save not only his camels but their grazing lands for other camel herders also. Enjoy the tales of bio-diversity, the history of Orans and savour traditional food with stories of camels with Sumer Singh at his home in the village Sanwta.

A young entrepreneur hailing from the village of Khuri, Gajendra Singh's love lies in the desert of Khuri and its endless possibilites. He has worked to promote Khuri as one of the most coveted and sustainable desert destination of Thar region. Khuri is one of the best destiantion to witness the beauty of pristine desert dunes, folklores and traditional lifestyle of Thar.