Rajasthan's Chilli Country: A Farm Stay at Mathania, Between Jodhpur and Osian

Anavya is a three-bedroom farm villa at Mathania, in the stretch of desert farmland between Jodhpur and Osian. It sleeps up to nine, has a private pool, and sits among the chilli fields that made this village's name. Osian, with its eighth-century temples and sand dunes, is a short run further north. From around ₹35,000 a night for the whole house.

Most people going to the Thar from Jodhpur head for Jaisalmer, five or six hours west. This is the argument for stopping much sooner.

Where this actually is

Mathania sits on the road north out of Jodhpur towards Osian. Osian itself is roughly 65 km from Jodhpur, about an hour and a half by road, and the drive passes through Mathania on the way. Jodhpur airport is the nearest, with good connections from Delhi, Mumbai and Udaipur.

The village is known across Rajasthan for one thing: its red chillies. Mathania mirch is the chilli that gives laal maas its colour, deep red and more aromatic than fiery, and drying yards full of chillies laid out in the sun are an ordinary sight here in season. Anavya is built among those fields, which is where the name Chilli Farm Villa comes from rather than any theme.

Osian, and why it is worth the detour

Osian is an oasis town in the Thar and was a major trading centre between the eighth and twelfth centuries. What survives is the largest cluster of Hindu and Jain temples in Rajasthan, sandstone carved finely enough that people compare it to Khajuraho, which is why the town gets called the Khajuraho of Rajasthan.

The two you should not miss:

• Sachiya Mata Temple, on a hill above the town, reached through a sequence of carved archways. It is a working temple rather than a monument, and it is the kuldevi shrine for several Oswal Jain clans, who come here for mundan ceremonies. The view from the top takes in the rocky ridges on one side and the dunes on the other.
• The Mahavira Jain Temple, quieter, and the better of the two for the carving itself.

Most temples here open around 7:00 AM and close by 6:00 PM. Go in the morning, before the coach groups and before the stone gets hot underfoot. Carry socks if you are visiting in the middle of the day, since footwear comes off at the entrance.

Beyond the temples are the dunes. Osian's sand is genuinely quiet compared with Jaisalmer's, largely because fewer people have discovered that you can do this as a day trip. Camel rides and evening desert walks are easy to arrange, and the sunsets do not need any assistance.

What the house is like

Three bedrooms, three bathrooms, up to nine guests, and a private swimming pool. The design is deliberately rustic rather than palatial: minimalist lines, warm interiors, seasonal farmland in every direction. It was built out of a family's own land and local building sense, not dropped in from a hotel template.

What is here: air conditioning and heating, wifi, a full kitchen with a stove and oven, a dining area, a workspace, a barbecue, a fire pit, outdoor seating, a balcony, bicycles, indoor games, housekeeping, parking and a private entrance. Organic toiletries throughout. It is listed as event-friendly, which for a house this size means a small family function or a milestone birthday rather than anything larger.

The evening pattern here is unvarying and worth planning for. The heat goes out of the day around five, the pool becomes usable, and after dark the fire pit and the sky are the entertainment. There is very little light pollution in this part of the district.

A three-day plan that works

Day one. Arrive from Jodhpur in the afternoon, which is a comfortable hour or so. Check in at 2:00 PM, swim, walk the fields before sunset, barbecue and fire pit after dark.

Day two. Leave by 8:00 AM for Osian. Sachiya Mata first while it is cool, then the Mahavira temple, then the dunes. Back at the villa by early afternoon, out of the worst of the sun. Dunes again at sunset if the group has the appetite.

Day three. Jodhpur city. Mehrangarh Fort deserves half a day on its own, and Mandore Garden sits about 9 km north of the city on your way back, full of cenotaphs and easy to combine. Return, or continue on towards Jaisalmer, since you are already pointed that way.

When to come

October to March, without much argument. Desert days are pleasant and nights are properly cold from December, which is exactly what a fire pit is for. Chilli harvest and drying happens in the cooler months, so this is also when the fields look the way the photographs suggest.

April to June is severe. Daytime temperatures in this part of Rajasthan make outdoor plans impossible between ten and five, and the pool becomes the only sensible activity. July to September brings some green to the scrub and much lower rates, and the light after a rain shower in the desert is worth seeing at least once.

Eating here

The kitchen is pure vegetarian, as at all Viraalay properties, and guests are asked not to bring non-vegetarian food onto the premises. Breakfast is included with the stay. Lunch, dinner and high tea are arranged on request with at least twenty-four hours' notice, and Jain, satvik and no-onion-no-garlic cooking are all straightforward if flagged in advance.

Worth asking for: the local Marwari food cooked with the chillies grown around the house. Ker sangri, gatte, bajre ki roti with white butter. If you have only eaten Rajasthani food in restaurants, this is a different thing.

Practical notes

Check-in 2:00 PM, check-out 11:00 AM. Pets are not permitted. Smoking is restricted to designated areas and chewing tobacco is not allowed on the property. Noise levels are expected to stay reasonable between 10 PM and 7 AM. Tariffs are set on standard occupancy and additional guests need prior approval.

Bring sunscreen, a hat and closed shoes for the dunes. Carry cash, since the villages on this route are not uniformly card-friendly. And keep a light jacket for December and January evenings, because the desert loses its heat faster than anyone expects.

See Anavya, or browse the full collection.