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| Jodhpur is also known as the Blue City. |
'Zubeidaa' movie was released a few years ago. Directed by Shyam Benegal this film is about a small time actress Zubeidaa Begum who marries King Vijayendra Singh who is already married. King Vijayendra and Zubeidaa are later killed in a plane crash- which was hinted as a sabotage. The movie was written by the famous film critic Khalid Mohammad, who happens to be Zubeidaa's son from her first marriage. Vijayendra Singh of the film is based on Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur who plunged into politics after the Maharajas were deprived of their power after Indian independence. Much of the film is shot in Jodhpur and showcases the fort, palaces and opulence of the Rathore family. Hanwant Singh's son is now the titular Maharaja of Jodhpur- Maharaja Gaj Singh II.
Jodhpur has beautifully been presented in a 10 episode 'Bandish Bandits' on Prime video. The entire setting is at Jodhpur and the series has classical music as main theme but has a lot of things in it to keep everyone interested. Naseeruddin Shah plays an important role in this story but it is the mesmerising photography of the Mehrangarh fort, Umaid Bhawan Palace, the desert and the blue city which excited me as I watched this series after coming back from the city.
Rajasthan may be one big state now but it was not so before independence. Each big city you know about in the state had an independent ruler with full army and designated territory. At times each province was enemy of another but sometimes they were friends with other Royal families having matrimonial relationships. Most of these royal fiefdoms were friends with Mughals and later with British. This helped them to survive and continue with their lavish lifestyles.
So far we had traveled to 2 big cities - Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Each had its own rulers in past and each had a huge fort. They had often fought wars with each other. While Bikaner fort is totally conserved and is under a private Trust with a lovely museum, Jaisalmer has a living fort and unfortunately it is slowly crumbling.
We left Jaisalmer after an early breakfast for Jodhpur. From the golden city we were driving to the blue city. Dominated by Brahmins, Jodhpur initially had Brahmins paint their houses blue to distinguish themselves from others as they were considered to be superior caste. The journey was smooth and soon I realised what Devicka had been talking about when she had said that 29 years ago when she had driven from Jodhpur to Barmer and back, it was all Desert and dunes on the way. We could see the huge dunes but they were not of soft sand but had hardened and become large hills and they had a lot of vegetation on them. This was result of more rain in this region and irrigation facilities provided due to Indira Gandhi canal.
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| Traffic was generally smooth but sometimes we had to wait for our dear camels to clear the way. |
We did the distance in good time and had reached Jodhpur city in 3.5 hours. So instead of going to the hotel we decided to make the imposing Mehrangarh fort as our first destination.
The Mehrangarh Fort
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| The fort is on a hill so attack on it by clandestine was almost impossible |
Mehrangarh fort is under a private Trust run by Maharaj Gaj Singh II. It was built by Rao Jodha in fifteenth century on top of a hill. It has several gates and each has a history. Gates were considered important as they were there to thwart the enemy. Some gates were built to commemorate the victories over the enemy. Wars with Mughals and other states such as Bikaner and Jaipur resulted in several canon shots being fired at the fort and you can still see those marks on the walls and on the gates. Cars were going right till the entrance of the fort but we were asked to park 300 m below as the top level parking was for officials and guides. We had to pay for entrance and the guide at the ticket counter and it was a smooth process. The guide was quite good and spoke very good English. He gave us all the time and answered a lot of questions. We spent more than two hours at the fort . Inside the fort also one has to walk on steep slopes so one must wear comfortable shoes. The museum was outstanding and much of it is thanks to Maharaj Gaj Singh who has donated his personal artefacts to the museum as it is run by his Trust. The museum is divided with displays of Textiles, arms and armour, paintings, decorative arts and publications.
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| This golden Palki and many other items from royal households are exhibited in the museum |
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| The Jaswant Thada as viewed from the Fort |
There are some lovely views from the fort. Jaswant Thada glistens in bright sunlight as it is white. It has a museum of Marwar rulers and is known as Taj Mahal of Marwar. On the other side you can see majestic Umaid Bhawan Palace - now a hotel run by Taj group. It is owned by Maharaja Gaj Singh who has a museum in the premises and his living area in complex. Other than that you can view the blue city from the fort. All this looks quite lovely.
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| Being maintained by private trust - fort is well looked after |
Jai Pol (Victory gate), Fateh pol, Sheesh Mahal, Phool Mahal and many other such exquisite places inside the fort gives you some idea about the splendour in which these Royals lived. The fort also has Chamunda Devi temple where many were killed and several others were injured in a major stampede in 2008.
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| The famed Phool Mahal |
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| Sheesh Mahal - the palace of mirrors |
The shop at the exit of museum was quite interesting and was not too expensive so we picked up some mementos from there. We had earlier thought that we would visit the sadar bazar near the clock tower for some mementos but then gave up the idea as we didn't want to go into a crowded place. It was well past 3 PM so we had lunch at their cafe. Food was good there and the chicken I had was made in Rajasthani style but thankfully it wasn't full of chillies. As the fort is run by a trust, the facilities were quite good and toilets etc were very clean.
It had been a sensible decision to visit the fort before going to the hotel. The hotel called Pratap Bhawan was a big Haveli like structure a bit outside the town on the other side from where we had entered Jodhpur. Had we gone to the hotel initially it would have wasted much of our time. Time was of essence as we were in Jodhpur also just for a day. So we didn't spend much time in the hotel and were off again after a nice bath. We were off to the top hotel and palace of Jodhpur for drinks and dinner.
Back to the city
The road leading to Umaid Bhawan palace is quite upmarket. There are many top stores and restaurants there. Devicka wanted to check out some ear rings so we stopped on the way at a top jeweller's store. Next we went to the famous Lalji handicrafts but the shop was shutting early as lack of tourists had made business dull. We found another shop nearby and spent some time buying some mementos before I lost interest and walked into a men's garment's shop called the 'Monarch Garments.' By the time Devicka walked in I had decided that I wanted a Jodhpuri suit from here. Now that we were in Jodhpur - might as well buy a Jodhpur style band-gala suit from here. So fabric was selected, measurements taken and order was placed. The Jodhpuri suit arrived by courier a week after we came back from our holiday.
An evening at Umaid Bhawan Palace
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| Umaid Bhawan at night. Building similar to what you find in Lutyen's Delhi |
I was warned that the hotel may not allow outsiders ( those not residing at the hotel) due to Covid19 precautions. Umaid Bhawan hotel is rated as one of the top hotels in the world and is run by the Taj group. My friend Suman solved the problem by contacting his friend who is the CFO of Taj group. I got a call from the hotel and they confirmed our dinner reservation. I would have been disappointed had I not been able to visit Umaid Bhawan Palace.
The story about construction of Umaid Bhawan palace is similar to that of Bara Imambara at Lucknow. Asaf ud Daula had constructed Bara Imambara complex so that workers get employment during famine in Lucknow. In 1920's the Maharaja of Marwar - Umaid Singh, to help the farmers who were facing drought and famine for 3 years, commissioned building of this palace. The architect was Henry Vaughan Lanchester who was a contemporary of Edwin Lutyen. You can see similarities in buildings of Delhi built by Lutyen to Umaid Bhawan. The sandstone exterior and the domes are some of the similarities.
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| The lobby under the dome was very impressive and had soothing live music |
In 1971 the palace was converted into hotel by Maharaja Gaj Singh. Maharaja himself stays in the complex. A part of the complex is a museum which was shut due to Covid19. It is a lavish building and very rich from inside and has 347 rooms. The hotel has huge grounds and all the facilities possible. The evening we were there, a big party was happening in the lawns and seeing all the fancy cars parked it seemed that all the rich and famous of the city were there. The bar was shut so we sat in the dining room and had our drinks, snacks and dinner there. As certain amount of cover charges had to be paid I ordered a couple of single malts. We didn't have anything fancy for food as snacks were quite filling. The party music made the atmosphere lively. It was a nice relaxed evening and it gave us that feel of being in a very Royal place.
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| Umaid Bhawan lawns all decked up for the party |
We could have avoided Jodhpur as Devicka had been here a couple of times for work several years ago and had told me that there wasn't much other than Mehrangarh Fort, Jaswant Thada and Umaid Bhawan Palace. But to me it made sense to spend a few hours here as drive from Jaisalmer to Udaipur would have been almost 10 hours. I liked spending the afternoon at Mehrangarh fort and evening at Umaid Bhawan palace. It also gave me satisfaction of visiting the venue of the national award winning film Zubeidaa which starred Karisma Kapoor, Rekha and Manoj Bajpayee. As mentioned earlier, each city had its own history, its own rulers and its own forts & palaces. Jodhpur of Marwar region also had its uniqueness. It is an important city of Rajastahn and I am glad that I visited it. And I also got my Jodhpuri suit also from here !
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