Visit to Jodhpur

A close friend’s marriage over the weekend of 24^th Jan 2007 gave us an opportunity to visit the blue city – Jodhpur. We planned out a 2 day trip there.

An overnight train (Marwha exp) journey brought us from Gurgaon to Jodhpur. We reached there at 7:00a.m. on 23^rd Jan. Our friend Lalit had come to receive us at the station and we headed to his home. The preparations for his marriage were at full swing. We met his family and had a hearty breakfast of mirch-parathas with them. The morning was spent happily chatting away with the groom and his extended family of cousins. Our lodging was arranged in the neighboring house where the owner was kind enough to let Lalit’s visiting friends stay for a couple of days.

We had almost listed out the places that we wanted to visit in Jodhpur. We discussed the list with Lalit and were able to add a couple of new places as well. We headed out for our first destination leaving him having his beauty message of sandalwood paste and turmeric.

Day1

Mehrangarh Fort:

Like most of the forts in India, the Mehrangarh fort is situated at the top of a hill overlooking the entire city. We had hired an auto-rickshaw for the entire day. He brought us to the main gate of the fort. The fort is a breathtaking vertical structure having about 12-14 stories. You have the option of climbing floor by floor or taking a lift straight to the 12^th floor of the fort. We decided to take the lift and visit each floor on our way down.

The fort is well maintained and the top floor houses a museum containing the artifacts like weapons, palkis, clothes and other daily used items by the rajputs. The most interesting part was the room which contained exquisitely carved baby cradles. The music room was also very eye-caching with the walls painted in gold with full length mirrors in between. It gave the room a very bright and airy feel.

The roof of the fort has many canons lined up against the boundary. The canons being so heavy, you wonder how they were moved around during the war times. You can get the aerial view of the entire city from the top. Looking down, I realized why it is called the blue city. Every third house is painted blue here – either with blue colored distemper or with copious amounts of ‘neel’ in the white-wash.

We descended floor by floor, each one containing some history about the lives of its rulers. Walking on the cobbled streets inside the fort, you can see the fort walls bearing the mark of the wars being fought here, in the form of bullet marks. The ground floor houses a small restaurant serving lunch, dinner and snacks. It also contains a state govt. emporium which contains a collection of memorabilia – jewelry, wood decorative items, books, miniature paintings etc.

Jaswant Thada:

Jaswant Thada is located on the way down from the Mehrangarh fort. It is a beautiful temple complex with the mail temple being built of white marble. The surrounding complex is well maintained and very pleasing.

After our tour of the fort and temple, we had the traditional lunch of Dal-Batti at a local restaurant and headed to the Umaid Bhawan Palace.

Umaid Bhawan Palace:

The palace structure is huge and stands up magnificently over a plateau. The entire palace is made up of red sand stone which gives it a very regal touch. A part of the palace has been converted into a museum. The museum contains various antiques ranging from ottomans to silver ware that were used by royals of Umaid Bhawan. The most engaging room is the one which has an amazing collection of clocks and watches either owned by or gifted to the royals. Each clock is unique in its looks and working style.

The rest of the building is empty with long elegant corridors. If you are lucky enough, you can get a glimpse of the royalty which still occupies a part of the palace.

The palace offers another attraction – antique cars. The Bentley, Cadillac and other cars owned by the royals are kept at display on the ground just outside of the museum. They are in perfect working condition. It’s good to see them being maintained and cared for. We just stood admiring them as they gleamed in the afternoon sun. The tour of the palace took up the entire afternoon and we next headed to the lake to cool off in the evening.

Kaylana Lake:

The Kaylana Lake is just a couple of kilometers outside the main city. It has a very picturesque setting with low-rise hills surrounding the lake from all the sides. The lake has boating facilities and we immediately booked one. The boat ride on the lake was a soothing experience after site-seeing all day under the hot blazing sun. The boat rides are for 20mins and the total numbers of boats are kept at a minimum number to prevent the lake from being overcrowded.

We came back from the lake and after a few hours of rest and sharing our day’s exploits with Lalit, we went to the nearby market for dinner. We wanted to have authentic Rajasthani food, but could not find a suitable restaurant, so we ended up eating some regular roti-sabzi at one of the popular eating joint in the market.

Day2

Mandore:

Mandore is situated just 8km outside Jodhpur. We again hired an auto rickshaw for the trip. We headed for Mandore after a light breakfast with Lalit.

Mandore houses the cenotaphs of various Marwar rulers. It is rumored to be the birth place of Mandodari – The wife of Ravana. The cenotaphs are contained in an enclosed area. The site is fairly well maintained with shady trees and concrete roads connecting all the structures. The structures are very old and made of unpolished red stone. The temple structures remind you of the temples in Banaras.

The complex also houses a giant wall containing the idols of various gods and goddesses. It also has a very ancient temple right next to the wall.
A small museum completes the places to visit inside the complex.

Ganesh mandir:

We returned to the main city and decided to visit the Hanuman mandir. The temple is located on a small hill top near Ratnada. We decided to explore the temple surroundings and we chanced upon a very old abandoned structure. The Umaid Bhawan was visible from this place and created a very beautiful combination when pictured together.

We also visited a near by Krishna Temple which had nice wall pictures, telling story from Ramayan. The roof is also painted with many mythical pictures.

Umaid Gardens

On our way back we stopped at the Umaid Gardens. The park area is quite large and it also has a mini zoo. The Govt. museum having a collection of royal armory, utensils and robes, is situated right in the middle of the park. The fort forms a beautiful backdrop for this garden compound. It’s a good place for relaxing in the evenings.

Sadar market:

We returned to our abode and after resting for the remaining part of the afternoon we decided to visit the main Sadar market place in the evening. The bustling and colorful market is spread around a clock tower. This is a good place to buy dry fruits. Lovers of antique jewelry and local handicrafts can fish out small handloom shops in the by lanes of the market. High prices are always quoted for the articles’ hence bargaining is advised. The Mirchi pakoda is a must have and a very popular delicacy here. One can always find a big crowd in front of the shops selling them. Inside the market there is a very famous shop for evening snacks. We tasted some the items there and it was really good.

We returned to join in the marriage festivities with our hosts in the evening. More of our common friends had arrived by then and the later part of the evening was spent catching up and general chit-chat with them.

We headed back for Gurgaon the next day after attending the morning celebrations of the wedding day. People having a couple of more days on their hands can also visit Jaisalmer (6-7hrs by train) and Ossian (65km from Jodhpur). For us, it was one of the most enjoyable weekends that we had spent in a long time. We are very grateful to Lalit and his family for their love and hospitability. While staying with them we never felt away from home. It is these memories that will live with us forever, more than the memories of Jodhpur city.

Train Tickets: Rs 1500/- for two people to and fro (Delhi to Jodhpur and back).

Hotel rents: Rs 500/- to Rs 600/- per day (approx). As we did not stay in any hotels, this is an approximate figure. Hotels are easily available just outside the railway station.

Travel costs: Rs 500/- (2 day full auto)

Food: Eating options are abundant here. From simple Dal-Bati to Non-Veg cuisines, everything is available at reasonable rates.

Best time to visit: Feb to March mid and Sep to Nov mid.