Golden sunlight flickers like tiny flames as thousands of demoiselle cranes glide into the heart of the Thar Desert of India, catalyzing the earth-hued sand dunes into a sea of glittering silver.
Amidst the magical display sits a village. Here, the people ensure that these thousands of cranes are fed before themselves; despite the limited availability of grains.
Here,with kindness and respect, the villagers place the lives of wildlife before their own. Here, all beings enjoy a peaceful coexistence.
This community of people practice the way of Bishnoism: they are the legendary Bishnois of Rajasthan.
Bishnoism, founded by the great visionary saint Guru Jambheshwar Ji in the year 1485, is a simple, practical way of living which emphasizes love and harmony between human beings, nature, and all life including animals as co-inhabitants on Earth.
Find out more about the loving Bishnoi community and Bishnoism at
www.Bishnoism.comIts origin began in Asia’s second largest desert, the sprawling Thar Desert in Rajasthan, India, and has since flourished and expanded throughout the country.
R.K. Bishnoi (m): Guru Jambheshwar Ji was born in year 1451 in the place called Pipasar.
He was a very silent boy and he used to take care of the cows in the desert.
HOST:Guru Jambheswar Ji was born with the blessing of a yogi. He was a very quiet and simple child, but also kind and affectionate and quite a genius.
At the age of 34, he left behind his belongings and home to live and preach at a sand dune called Samrathal Dhora. During that time, dire drought conditions in the western Rajasthan area forced people to flee the homeland with their animals.
R.K. Bishnoi (m): After so many years there was no rain so the people started moving out to go to Malava which is in Gujarat. Otherwise, there was nothing; no vegetation here, no crop, no water for them and their animals, so they started moving.
HOST: The kind-hearted Guru Jambheswar Ji was sad to witness everyone distraught. He offered his help to those afflicted by the drought so that they could continue living in their villages.
R.K. Bishnoi (m): Then Guru Jambheshwar, he said that, “Please you don’t go, I will take care of your all problems. So what are your problems?” Then they told that, “We don’t have food for us, we don’t have fodder for our animals.
We don’t have water; there is no rain for last so many years. So that’s why we are forced to move from this place.” So then he said, “I will do something.”
So with his blessing, he started giving grains to those farmers, fodder to their animals, and water to them and their animals, and asked them to fight with this drought position together, as a community, as a society.
So the people, they started believing. And using whatever available he has, he donated to all these people. And then he started the Bisnoisism, which is a sect, part of a Hindu, great Hindu Dharma.