Stepwell & Sun Temple
Join us on a journey back in time to the world of medieval stepwells at Rani ki Vav world heritage site and the majestic Sun temple of Modhera.
Little Rann of Kutch
Day trip from Ahmedabad to Wild Ass Safari and Modhera Sun Temple
Rs9500/person onwards
Private & Guided
12 Hours
⭐ 5 on Tripadvisor
Approved by Tourism Ministry
Outlook Responsible Tourism Award
STONE & SALT
It is a single day that moves from a masterpiece carved to honour the Sun, to the empty white horizon where the Sun rules everything: a land of salt, mirage and wild horses of the desert, glowing gold as the day ends.
What is the Sun Temple and Wild Ass Safari tour?
The Sun Temple and Wild Ass Safari is a private day tour from Ahmedabad by 5 Senses Tours. You explore the 11th century Modhera Sun Temple with a guide, then drive to Bajana for lunch and an afternoon jeep safari in the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch, returning by 9 PM.
Tour details at a glance
| Price | Rs 8,400 per person onwards, private tour |
|---|---|
| Duration | About 12.5 hours, 8:30 AM to 9:00 PM |
| Start and end | Your hotel in Ahmedabad |
| Distance | About 290 km round trip by private car |
| Highlights | Modhera Sun Temple, Surya Kund stepwell, jeep safari in the Wild Ass Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch |
| Season | Mid October to mid June; the sanctuary closes for the monsoon |
| Best months | November to February, when migratory birds fill the Rann |
| Fitness level | Easy. Some temple steps; the safari is by jeep on rough tracks |
Most visitors to Gujarat see the Sun Temple in a rushed hour, or the Rann of Kutch on a separate, long trip. Few realise the two lie a short drive apart, joined by the same unforgiving sun.
In the morning you stand where Solanki kings built a temple so the Sun’s light would honour its god. By evening you stand at the edge of a desert of salt, watching the last wild asses of India move across a horizon that seems to have no end. One day, two worlds, and a story that connects them.
Kings of the Sun, Horses of the Desert
In 1026 to 1027 CE, under King Bhima I of the Solanki dynasty, also called the Chaulukyas, the craftsmen of Gujarat completed a temple to Surya, the Sun god, at Modhera. Nearly a thousand years later, its carved stone still tells the story of a kingdom at the height of its wealth and confidence.
North west of Modhera lies the Little Rann of Kutch, a vast seasonal salt marsh flooded by the monsoon and baked white by summer. Here survives the Indian wild ass, the khur, found nowhere else on Earth. Protected in a sanctuary since 1972, its numbers have climbed from 720 in 1976 to 7,672 in the 2024 census, one of India’s great conservation stories.
Your Day from Modhera to the Little Rann of Kutch
8:30 AM: Pickup from Your Ahmedabad Hotel
Your guide and driver collect you in a private air conditioned car. As the city falls away, the road runs north through the farmland of Mehsana district, and your guide sets the scene: the Solanki kings, the trade that made Gujarat rich, and the desert waiting at the end of the day.
Stop 1-11:00 AM to 12:00 noon
Modhera Sun Temple, a Hymn in Stone
You enter the temple the way pilgrims once did, by the great stepped tank. The Surya Kund falls away beneath you in tier upon tier of geometric steps, set with 108 small shrines, a cascade of stone so precise it seems to have been drawn rather than built.
Above it rises the Sabha Mandap, the assembly hall, its 52 pillars said to represent the 52 weeks of the year, every surface carved with dancers, deities, musicians and scenes from the epics. Beyond lies the sanctum, built under King Bhima I of the Solanki dynasty and completed in 1026 to 1027 CE. It was aligned so that, on the equinoxes, the first rays of the rising sun fall on the sanctum where the image of Surya once stood.
The temple is no longer a place of worship, and it is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. That stillness lets you linger. Your guide reads the carvings with you, panel by panel, and explains why Modhera is counted among the finest examples of Maru Gurjara architecture in India.
A modern footnote: in 2022, the village of Modhera was declared India’s first round the clock solar powered village, a fitting tribute to the temple’s god.
12:00 PM to 2:00 PM: Drive to Bajana
The landscape changes as you head west. Fields give way to thorn scrub, the sky widens, and the air carries the first hint of salt. The monsoon turns it into a shallow sea, and dries into one of the largest salt flats on Earth.
Stop 2: 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM: Jeep Safari
Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch
Your open jeep leaves the last village behind, and the land empties. Ahead lies nearly 5,000 square kilometres of flat, cracked earth, with islands of grass called bets rising like ships from a pale sea.
Then you see them: a herd of wild asses, chestnut and cream, grazing in the distance or racing across the flats at up to 50 to 70 km an hour. The Indian wild ass, or khur, lives nowhere else on Earth. Your naturalist will help you spot nilgai, the elegant chinkara gazelle, and perhaps a desert fox. In winter, the wetlands fill with greater and lesser flamingos, pelicans and the graceful demoiselle and common cranes that fly in from Central Asia.
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM: Return to Ahmedabad
The drive back runs under a darkening sky. You are back at your hotel by about 9 PM.
Does the Little Rann of Kutch sound like fun?
What Makes This Tour Different
Two worlds, one story
This day joins Modehra and the Rann through the Sun: the god the temple honours, and the force that shapes the desert.
The golden hour safari
Your drive is timed to end at sunset, when the Rann is at its most beautiful.
A guide and a naturalist
History at Modhera from your guide; wildlife and birds in the Rann from a local naturalist who knows the herds.
Everything arranged
Permits, jeep,and entry fees are handled before you arrive.
Your Guide for the Day
Your 5 Senses guide travels with you all day, from pickup to drop. At Modhera they bring the Solanki kingdom and its sculptors to life. In the Rann they work with a local naturalist who reads the land by the tracks in the salt. They pace the day to your interests and handle every permit and detail along the way.
Five Senses Tours - Ahmedabad
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Pricing Chart
4+ persons
Rs9500/person
- Pick and drop Ahmedabad
- Private Car
- Guide
- Jeep Safari
- Entrance charges
2 persons
Rs16500/person
- Pick and drop Ahmedabad
- Private Car
- Guide
- Jeep Safari
- Entrance charges
1 person
Rs29250
- Pick and drop Ahmedabad
- Private Car
- Guide
- Jeep Safari
- Entrance charges
Trip Itinerary
Modehra Sun Temple and Wild Ass sanctuary in Little Rann of Kutch
8:30 AM - Hotel pick up
Modhera Sun Temple
Safari in Rann of Kutch
8:30 PM - Hotel drop
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