ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

What To Do on a Visit to Jodhpur, India, on the Edge of the Thar Dessert

Updated on August 31, 2023
Jaipur from Mehrangarh Fort
Jaipur from Mehrangarh Fort | Source

Jodhpur is an enchanting city located on the edge of the great Thar Desert. I first learned about it from an incredible movie, The Fall in 2009 where a character stands on a hill overlooking an amazing blue city. I was fascinated with the place and during the summer of 2010, my boyfriend and I visited the city - Jodhpur, located in Rajasthan, India.

Jodhpur, The Blue City

Jodhpur is a Brahmin city that has two nicknames - "Sun City" because of the city's daily sunshine and one that most tourists know it by - "The Blue City". The Blue City nickname is really suiting because of the blue tint that the houses around the Mehrangarh Fort have. Citizens are actually forbidden in Jodhpur to pain their houses any color other than a shade of indigo blue!

When filming The Fall, the director gave citizens free paint and the fresh layer of blue paint looked stunning when the movie's charterer stands at the Mehrangarh Fort overlooking the vibrant blue city below. It's looks surreal!

Jodhpur was founded by the Rathore Clan in 1459. In previous times it was known as Marwar.

Source

Tourist Attractions in Jodhpur

Sights to see in Jodhpur include:

  • Mehrangarh Fort
  • Umaid Bhavan Palace
  • Jaswant Thada
  • Mandore, the ancient capital of Marwar, located just 7 km outside the Jodhpur.
  • And if you're in town during the Hindu month of Ashwin (September-October), definitely check out one of the most famous festivals in Rajasthan, Marwar Festival. It's an annual celebration commemorating the heroes of Rajasthan with folk music and dancing for two days. Another major attraction of the festival is the camel tatoo show and polo!

Click thumbnail to view full-size
Source
Source
Source
Source
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source

Mehrangarh Fort

Mehrangarh Fort is a majestic fort on top of a 150 meter high hill, occupying the entire top and providing stunning 360-degree view of the blue city below. The fort is the largest in all of Rajasthan and has a wide array of attracting such as palaces, galleries, a museum, and temples to spend an entire day sightseeing.

Within the palace, rooms of particular interest are:

  • Moti Mahal, or "Pearl Hall" is a room with colored glass windows where the Maharaja entertained his guests.
  • Sheesh Mahal, or "Mirror Hall" is a room filled with beautiful mirrors.
  • Phool Mahal, or "Flower Hall" is a room where the Maharaja was entertained with dancing girls.
  • Chamunda Mataji Temple, devoted to Rao Jodha's, the local favorite goddess.

Umed Bhawan Palace Jodhpur

Source

Umaid Bhawan Palace

Umaid Bhawan Palace is the current residence of the current Maharaja! It's actually one of the largest private residances in the world.

The palace was just built in 1944 and is the last palace built in India. Half the building is now a 5-star hotel called "Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces" so you can live under one roof with the king!

There's also a small museum in the hotel area of the palace.

Jaswant Thada

Source

Jaswant Thada in Jaipur

Jaswant Thada, located just a kilometer away is an easy walk from Mehrangarh Fort. It's a royal cenotaphs (empty tomb) built entirely in white marble. The cenotaph was built to commemorate Maharaja Jaswant Singh and the building also houses some rare portraits of former Jodhpur leaders.

Entry fee: 30 Rupees, plus 25 Rupees for a camera.

Source
Source

Elephant howdah

A howdah is a wooden seat on the back of an elephant. Jodhpur's fort has one of the finest collection of howdahs with historical significance in India. Within the collection is a silver howdah that was used by Mughal emperor Shahjahan that In 1657 was given by him to Jodhpur's Maharaja Jaswant Singh with an elephant, as well as 100 horses!

Did you spot Jodhpur on this movie trailer? It looks fabulous!

Jodhpur Location

A
Jodhpur, India:
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

get directions

Jodhpur is in Rajasthan, India

B
Jaipur, India:
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

get directions

To get from Jodhpur to Jaipur, it takes about 5 hours. It's about 220 miles (330 km) and you'll need to take the NL 112 and NH 8

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)