Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Jodhpur: The Blue City

The drive from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur is excellent. We hired a taxi to reach Manvar Desert Camp. Negotiating for a taxi , that too for a one way ride is pretty tricky, you will have to bargain hard for a good deal. Reaching Jodhpur (around 110 kms) from Manvar Desert camp was a real challenge. When we enquired for a taxi, they made an exorbitant demand. So we decided to ditch taxi and thought we will catch the first bus which comes our way! To our luck, as soon as we reached the road, we found a shared taxi going towards Jodhpur and driver was more than happy to drop us till Jodhpur.

Mehrangarh Fort and Umaid Bhavan Palace are worth seeing. The fort being located on a hillock, is almost equivalent to a 12~ 13 storied building and there is also lift facility to reach the top. The blue city in its full glory is best seen from the top of the fort.

This fort is also under the control of a trust run by Maharaja of Jodhpur and showcases enormous Rajput culture within and has been converted in to a museum. The technology used in this perfume bottle (toy) is amazing! To fill the perfume, you have got to open the knob on head, and if you press the bird like thing on the left hand , the perfume sprays out of right hand!!! Truly amazing isn’t it!

The protective gear that was once used by the Majaraja, I wonder how much stamina one used to have then!

The entire roof that is seen is made of gold (around 80 Kg, I was told) , this is a war loot from one of the war over Ahmedabad.

Cannons still in position on the top of the fort.

The Royal State Flag and Emblem

Umaid Bhavan Palace: As the history goes, once there was a severe drought in Jodhpur, then Maharaja thought he would distribute money and food to his citizens, then citizens told, being true Rajaputs in nature they don’t want anything in free as alms, instead asked the King to provide them with some work and then pay them. It was then the king decided to build this truly majestic palace.

It’s said that this doesn’t use mortar or cement to bind the stones together, but stones are bound together by a complex interlocking mechanism. Majority of the hotel is under the control of Taj group, part of it is museum showcasing heritage.
Below one really caught my attention! A Menu of Maharaja’s party from 1936, will I ever have an opportunity to taste old wine, liquor listed there?
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