Jodhpur, Rajasthan’s second largest city, nicknamed Blue City and Sun City, stands majestically on the foothills of a sandstone hillock and is a veritable oasis in the virgin sands of the Thar.

We instantly warm to the city and Rajasthani hospitality, evident right from the word go, beginning at the station as we alight from the train. Our trip to this city is entirely unplanned; we stumble upon it by accident than by design, having missed our train from Jaipur to Jaisalmer. A bunch of 13 diehard go-getters of all ages, we capitalise on our blunder by making the most of it to explore this “blue” city in the 10 hours we have before taking a bus to our planned destination — Jaisalmer.
The sky is clear and blue. The fiery planet has made his grand appearance on the horizon and gently embraces us in his warm morning glow. The city is already alive and agog with activity. Honking vehicles and a plethora of luxury cars zip through its streets, brakes screeching as they slow down and squeeze themselves through the maze of narrow alleyways that dot the city. The roads are colour-splashed as hawkers and pavement vendors arrange their wares, signaling the start of yet another busy day.
As the story goes, Jodhpur derived the name Blue City from the practice of Brahmins in the city painting their houses blue to distinguish themselves from other communities. Gradually, the walled city assumed a blue tinge that is best viewed from the top of Mehrangarh Fort. We begin our explorative sojourn of Jodhpur with this impregnable royal structure.
Mehrangarh dominates Jodhpur’s western skyline, and rises majestically as if out of the cliff on which it rests, 125m above the plains surrounding it. The fort has an unusually high, 10 km long wall running along its circumference. We enter its portals, snaking our inclined approach through one of its four gates. We walk through the awe-inspiring colossal citadel originally built by Maharaja Man Singh in 1806. Its smooth, flat exterior, our guide tells us, was deliberately made so to keep enemies from scaling its walls.
Several chambers of the fort that have been converted into a museum for public viewing speak volumes for the history of Rajasthan, of its brave and valourous. They comprise the 14 display rooms including several palaces — Moti Mahal, Phool Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Daulat Khana and Sileh Khana. Each of these structures is a museum in itself. One of the most attractive chambers of the fort is Sheesh Mahal, built entirely from fragmented inlaid mirror motifs. The sheer play of lights on the mirrors creates a scintillating effect as it explodes into myriads of luminous stars.
Our next visit is to the Jaswant Thada, the royal cenotaphs, right across the Fort. The monument in memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, at first glance looks like a temple belonging to the Jain faith. Built in 1899, this memorial is referred to as the Taj Mahal of Marwar.
A mystic aura pervades the structure that has intricate carvings sculpted from sheets of white marble. The walls of its interior are adorned with rare portraits of several Jodhpur rulers. Before proceeding to our next place of visit, the Umaid Bhawan Palace, we decide to give our aching legs some respite and bask in the soft carpeted lawns of Jaswant Thada.
Hunger bells create a tumultuous roar in our bellies. We embark on a gastronomic odyssey — ethnic vegetarian fare. Much of Rajasthan cuisine is prepared from gram flour, major delicacies being piping hot pakodas and gatta ki sabzi, not to mention the amazing range of mouthwatering chutneys made from locally available spices.
We feast on delicious dal, baati and choorma. As I spoon lip-smacking portions of the dish, I am reminded of an interesting tale narrated by one of my Rajasthani friends, associated with the origins of this delicacy. Warring soldiers made easy their cooking task by making a ball of the flour, sticking it on to the heads of their spears and heating the end in fire to harden it. Once hardened, they would remove the cooked balls, douse them in the dal and then partake of them!
Umaid Bhawan Palace, named after Maharaja Umaid Singh, its builder and President of the British Royal Institute of Architects, is a grandiose edifice of more recent origin compared to Jodhpur’s other forts and palaces. Built from chittar, a special variety of sandstone that accords it the characteristic subtle sheen, Umaid Bhavan is a lavish art deco monument. This poetry in stone took 15 years to build, involving the efforts of 3,000 artisans and over one million square feet of the finest marble.
There are temples, gardens, lakes and mansions galore in Jodhpur, and visiting all of them would certainly take a fortnight at best, so we skim past several of these sites for lack of time.
We wind our visit of Jodhpur, shop-hopping in its famous Girdikot and Sardar bazaars, bringing back traditional Rajasthani puppets, lacquer bangles and vibrantly coloured tie-and-dye fabrics.