Hanumangarh accommodation query

I suppose Hanumangarh could be well off the beaten track - no mention in Rajasthan threads so far - but I thought I'd try anyway, just in case one IMer out there has stayed in the town as a base for visiting the Harappan excavation site of Kalibangan.

Bikaner is the usual base, but is 205 km away. Quite a long taxi ride!!! That's 410 + km in one day, plus a few hours walking over the site and visiting the museum.

Whereas Hanumangarh is only 20 km from Kalibangan and is a stop on the Kalka-Barmar line. There's a circuit house in town. Would there also be a hotel or even a tourist resort closer than Bikaner? Does anyone have any ideas on this one? If you have, I really look forward to reading them... thanks in advance.

try this: http://hanumangarh.nic.in/

there should be some basic accommodation there as Kalibanga and the fort are quite interesting to see.
If you don't find anything, go to Bikaner and arrange everything from there.
As far as I know, you can go to Hanumangarh by train.

Thank you for your reply Anouk. I had skimmed this website before, but scoured it once more following your recommendation just in case I missed anything about accommodation in the town of Hanumangarh. But there wasn't anything, unfortunately.

On the other hand, I appreciated the link to Sangaria's museum, which I hadn't noticed before. Now I'm more curious than ever to go there, if only to check out the "unknown" (ie. unprovenanced) statue collection housed in the museum - Sangaria looks only about 20 km north of Hanumangarh, so could be easily combined with Kalibangan in a day trip. Bhatnar fort is less interesting to me, as a much later monument. Although I imagine it would look impressive in its stark surroundings.

Just got to find somewhere to stay. There's a PWD, hopefully with a bungalow for visitors which I suppose I would need to query for booking , as opposed to just turning up. Like I said, Bikaner is just too far away to allow sufficient time in a day trip during winter for properly studying the excavation and museum finds.... plus there's now another museum to see in Sangaria

After doing a bit more research, I'm now thinking it might be a better idea to hop off the Kalka-Barmer express just before Hanumangarh, at the Sangaria stop. There didn't seem to be much in the way of accomodation at Hanumangarh. Although I don't know whether there will be much at Sangaria either. I'm just going by the promotion of Sangaria as an "education hub", thinking if there are lots of colleges in town then there might also be visitors on a fairly regular basis and perhaps with that more options such as guesthouses or a hotel or two - basic hotel would be fine. Does anyone know of any accommodation/hotels in Sangaria?

Sangaria is only a short distance from Hanumangarh, and from there a short trip to Kalibangan. The plan would then be to hop back on the train at Sangaria for Bikaner or else see if any taxi hire would be available. That is, a taxi for a day trip from Sangaria to Bikaner stopping at the Kalibangan excavation for a few hours along he way.

Would any IMers know if long distance taxis would operate from Sangaria? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Still researching, I thought I'd keep adding bits of information I find just in case any other IMers would be interested in breaking their journey between Himachal Pradesh-Punjab and Rajasthan to see the world famous Kalibangan excavation site (Preharappan- early historical period).

I've now found that it is more feasible to get off the Barmer express at Hanumangarh for visiting Kalinbangan, which is about 20 km southwest of the town.This would save a lot of time and costs with taxis if arranging this trip as a day excursion from Bikaner, about 280 km away.

Hanumargarh seems to have a PWD bungalow and, what's more, a total of four railway retiring rooms!!!!!!! They're twin double rooms ( 8 beds) and the cost/bed is Rs 60 for 24 hours and Rs 30 for 12 hours. And I don't think there would be too much demand for these beds - thorough search of the net brings up very little about Hanumangarh, despite its lovely 3rd century AD Bhatner fort on the river. It's on the edge of the desert near the Pakistan border.

So it would be quite feasible to disembark at Hanumangarh about 6.00 am, rest in railway retiring room and then set out to visit Kalibangan for the day. At 8.15 pm one could then catch the Jat-Ahmedabad express (9224) to Jodhpur, arriving 6.00 am (train averages 1-1.5 hours late arrival). Or get off at Bikaner much earlier.

hey are there any other places to see in hanumangarh apart from the fort and kalibangan. i will be there for a couple of days

Sushago, tell us all about it! Looks a fascinating area. Unfortunately I've now cut it from my itinerary due to lack of time .... so many places to see and so little time

I read this thread with great interest because I really wanted to see an Indus Valley site. However, I have seen references that the Kalibangan is longer recognizable due to erosion and poor (really, no) conservation efforts. Can anyone confirm?

hey alousie
im sorry im replying after such along time kalibangan was not that good, the museums great but like ese002 said "Kalibangan is longer recognizable due to erosion and poor (really, no) conservation efforts"

and ese002 if u wanna see some indus valley sites i strongly reccomend dholavira