Jodhpur

25/4/09

Jodhpur, the blue city, so named because most of the buildings are painted blue. Some believe that the reason for this was the Brahmins attempting to denote their caste by painting their houses blue, and forbidding anyone else to do so, thereby everyone would recognise the house of an important person. (Brahmins – law makers, teachers, scholars and priests are the highest ranking members in India’s class dividing caste system). The current widely believed reasoning is that indigo was added to the standard whitewash applied to buildings to protect them from termites and other insects, Either way, the colour scheme caught on and was adopted throughout the city, including buildings outside the city walls.

The Majestic Meherangarh fort is one of the largest forts in India. It is a massive, impressive, impregnable structure sitting on top of a huge rock 400 feet (122m) above the city, surrounded by many miles of imposing thick walls and a series of seven gateways set at an angle so that armies could not charge them with any success. Within the final gate are the casts of 15 hand prints of the widows of Maharajah Man Singh. The widows performed sati by throwing themselves on the funeral pyre of the Maharajah in 1843. Past the gates, the fort palace has huge courtyards surrounded by wings of palatial buildings, part of which is now turned into a museum.