Photo: Umer Farooque Nizamani · CC BY-SA 4.0Area guides / Sindh / Tharparkar & Nagarparkar
Area guide
Tharparkar & Nagarparkar
Jain temples and granite hills where the Thar ends
Region
Sindh
When to go
November to February
Getting there
A long drive: Nagarparkar is roughly 450 km from Karachi via Mirpurkhas, and 129 km beyond Mithi. The temples are a short drive from the town.
Places
11 field guides
Overview
About Tharparkar & Nagarparkar
Tharparkar is Sindh's desert district, headquartered at Mithi. At its far south-east corner, Nagarparkar sits at the foot of the granite Karoonjhar Mountains, with centuries-old Jain temples at Gori and Bhodesar and one of the earliest mosques in Pakistan.
A long drive: Nagarparkar is roughly 450 km from Karachi via Mirpurkhas, and 129 km beyond Mithi. The temples are a short drive from the town.
The road in
Umerkot and Naukot forts sit on the way from Mirpurkhas, making the long drive a journey rather than a transfer. Plan at least two nights in the district.
Nagarparkar's temples
The Jain temples of Gori and Bhodesar, and the stone mosque with white marble pillars at Bhodesar, lie within a short drive of Nagarparkar town, near the Indian border. The cultural landscape is on Pakistan's UNESCO Tentative List.
Top sights in Tharparkar & Nagarparkar
All 11 places →
Resorts
All resorts →GreenPak stays in this area are listed on the region guide.
Tharparkar & Nagarparkar: Questions Travellers Ask
What is there to see in Tharparkar & Nagarparkar?
11 places in Tharparkar & Nagarparkar have their own field guide here, the most in churches and temples (4), forts, gates and palaces (2), parks and gardens (2) and landmarks and buildings (2).
When is the best time to visit Tharparkar & Nagarparkar?
November to February; the desert is extremely hot the rest of the year. After a good monsoon the Thar briefly turns green.
How do you get to Tharparkar & Nagarparkar?
A long drive: Nagarparkar is roughly 450 km from Karachi via Mirpurkhas, and 129 km beyond Mithi. The temples are a short drive from the town.
What day trips can you take from Tharparkar & Nagarparkar?
4 within about 55 km of Tharparkar & Nagarparkar, all listed on this page: Tomb of Mir Murad Khan (about 15 km outside), Gurdwara Pehli Patshahi, Mirpur Khas (about 16 km outside), Kahu-jo-Daro, Mirpur Khas (about 17 km outside) and Brahmanabad (Mansura), Sanghar (about 54 km outside).
The complete guide
Everything to See in Tharparkar & Nagarparkar
All 11 places in Tharparkar & Nagarparkar with their own field guide, grouped by kind.
Churches and temples · 4
Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple, NagarparkarA hilltop temple of the goddess Durga on the granite hill of Churrio near Nagarparkar, a place of pilgrimage for Thar's Hindus.
Gori TempleA marble Jain temple near Nagarparkar with 52 domes and the oldest surviving Jain wall paintings in the northern subcontinent.
Jain Temple Verawah, NagarparkarA stone Jain temple of the Sultanate period near Verawah, on the edge of Kajal Jheel in Tharparkar.
Umarkot Shiv MandirUmarkot Shiv Mandir, among Sindh's oldest and most sacred Hindu temples.
Forts, gates and palaces · 2
Naukot FortA square-walled 18th-century Talpur fort on the edge of the Thar Desert near Tharparkar, its brick ramparts rising abruptly out of the surrounding sand and scrub.
Umerkot FortA Rajput-era hilltop fort in the Thar Desert town where the Mughal emperor Akbar is traditionally said to have been born, its round bastions and thick brick walls still dominating the town skyline.
Parks and gardens · 2
Landmarks and buildings · 2
KerteeKertee, a Thar village 21 km south of Mithi, known for an ancient well and its many temples.
Nagarparkar Cultural LandscapeA desert cultural landscape at Sindh's far southeastern edge, ringed by the granite Karoonjhar Hills, with centuries-old Jain temples and a distinct Sindhi-Rajasthani heritage found nowhere else in Pakistan.
Around Tharparkar & Nagarparkar: day trips · 4
Outside Tharparkar & Nagarparkar, straight-line distance from its boundary.
