Deomali village of Rajasthan features in the best tourist village list under the community based category. The list of best tourist villages under various categories has been declared by the Ministry of Tourism on the World Tourism Day. The Sarpanch of the village Pooja Gurjar received the award of best tourist village in Delhi on Friday.
Deomali is 61 km away from Ajmer City and comes under the Masuda subdivision of newly formed Beawar district. The unique thing about this village is that about 3 thousand bighas of land of the village is in the name of lord Devnarayan, the daity of Gurjar community and due to this people don't even have property rights in their name.
Surrounded by the Aravali Mountain Range, Deomali is a destination of perfect Indian village experience with all the 300 houses in the village are made of clay except the temple of lord Devnarayan and the government school. The residents of the village do not consume alcohol and non-veg. Burning of neem wood and use of kerosene is banned in the village.
Peeru Gurjar, the husband of Sarpanch Pooja Gurjar said that villagers are bound by the promise made to the Lord Devnarayan.
“It is believed that years ago when Lord Devnarayan came here, he asked for a place to stay for a few days. The people of Gurjar community said that they will live in kutcha house and Lord Devnarayan will be given a pucca house. To fulfill the promise given to lord Devnarayan, even today no family uses cement and gravel or builds a permanent house,” said Peeru Gurjar.
To promote the tourism sector, Collector Utsav Kaushal had made a documentary on rural tourism focused on Deomali. The documentary was made in December 2023 and was sent to the ministry in January 2024.
Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari has termed it a proud moment for Rajasthan and said that the title will help the village to get international fame. She thanked Lok Sabha MP from Jodhpur and Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for choosing Deomali as the best tourist village.