The Architecture of Jodhpur, India’s Blue City

In the hot, dusty stretches of the Thar Desert, Jodhpur may appear more vision than city. Its mighty fortress grows right out of a mountain, over 400 feet straight up from the scrubby plain. At its base, a wash of buildings echoes the sky by day and lights up with blue pinpricks at night. It’s hard to conceive of mere mortals creating this place.

Understanding Jodhpur requires diving into the streetside currents of cobalt. The shades not only mitigate blazing heat, they also compliment green plants and jewel-toned saris, providing a respite from the bazaars’ chaos. Over the course of several days, we alternated between Jodhpur’s monumental architecture and the everyday world of its blue walls and breezy rooftops. All sites are marked on our Google map.

Orientation

Unlike other parts of the Thar Desert, the area around Jodhpur features dry dirt and rock instead of sand – more dust than dune. One might wonder why anyone would choose to settle where temperatures exceed 90˚F (32˚C) for nine months a year. Some of the world’s oldest settlements nearby give civilization here extremely deep roots – with thousands of years to develop water and climate management techniques. The city of Jodhpur wasn’t officially founded until 1459, but the spot already formed part of a major trade route between Delhi and the Arabian Sea.

Although it’s usually possible to spot Mehrangarh Fort’s looming presence, Jodhpur makes it easy for visitors to get lost. The old city sprawls on and on in a snarl of lanes; random twists and ill-defined streets make following maps absurd, while the ubiquitous motorbikes and cows keep traffic lively. 

Blue City: Navchokiya

Unlike Jaipur’s uniform pink, blues in Jodhpur are spontaneous and sporadic. In some streets, shades of blue coat every building; others have none, and many fall somewhere in between.

The greatest concentration of blue lies in a neighborhood called Navchokiya, but it’s not an easy area to navigate. Even those who enjoy wandering are advised to start with a local walking tour. Our hotel recommended a private guide who grew up in the area. Most itineraries start up near the back of the fort and descend into the lower reaches.

The cooling effect of all the blue is striking; walking certain blocks feels like being underwater. Our guide mentioned the principles of vastu-shastra, the ancient Sanskrit treatises on building in harmony with nature. Some homes have rows of holes above head level, designed to house sparrows who make noise when strangers enter the premises.

The neighborhood is full of old havelis (mansions) with screened balconies for women to catch breezes without being seen – occasionally with so many layers of paint that the openings have shrunk to pinholes.

Indians love a debate, and there are multiple competing theories about the origin of Jodhpur’s blue. Some say the color comes from indigo, while others counter that the dye is saved for textiles and trade. We’d heard that the hue comes from copper sulfate, which is added to plaster to repel termites – but our guide told us that powdered lime keeps bugs away and cobalt makes the mix blue. He was non-committal about the claim that the priestly caste used ‘Brahmin blue’ to distinguish their homes. Most locals agree that in spite of the benefits of blue, its prevalence is gradually fading from Jodhpur.

Toorji Ka Jhalra Stepwell

When the entire year’s rainfall comes at once, water management assumes paramount importance. Jodhpur’s average monsoon season yields less than a foot (32 cm) of rain, so every drop needs to be collected and preserved. Hence the design of the region’s unique stepwells, or baori: steps running along the sides allow for a steep drop, which minimizes surface evaporation. 

After decades of neglect, many of Rajasthan’s and Gujarat’s stepwells are finally getting more attention. The 2016 restoration of Jodhpur’s Toori Ka Jhalra sets a positive example. We saw locals swimming in the clear water, hanging out on the steps, and joining tourists in the café above. 

Clock Tower & Sardar Market

During British rule in India, English architects inspired by the local architecture developed a style known as Indo-Saracenic. Jodhpur’s clock tower, or ghanta ghar, features a typical mix of European and Mughal elements. Outsized bands on the corners and clock faces modeled on Big Ben mingle with a bulbous dome and multi-lobed arches. Maharaja Sardar Singh commissioned the structure sometime after succeeding his father in 1895, but before his profligacy prompted the British to strip his remaining powers in 1903.

Sardar Market is pure sensory stimulation: color, noise and scent all dance across one’s perception. Triple gateways at either end of the market square look impressive but clog the already-formidable traffic. For perspective, this is the one place during a two-week trip that our intrepid driver threw up his hands and suggested we walk. 

Mehrangarh: Fort of the Sun

If Jodhpur’s primary color echoes the sky, Mehrangarh Fort is its sun. Its superhuman walls glow gold both by day and by night. In fact the name means Fortress of the Sun, and the city’s founders claimed descent from the sun god Surya. As the rulers of Marwar, Rajasthan’s largest kingdom, the Rathore dynasty made the fort into a leading cultural center for centuries.

Left: entering the fort. Right: Phool Mahal (Flower Palace)

Denizens of hot deserts understand that the sun can be harsh as well as illuminating. While the palace above celebrates ingenuity, the fortress’s entrance emphasizes sacrifice. A wall by the front gate displays ceramic handprints of the wives who followed their husbands’ corpses into the funeral pyre (a practice known as sati). Nearby, a small plaque commemorates a man who volunteered to be buried alive in the fort’s foundations in order to avert a curse.

Inside the spiked gateways, the architecture’s tone switches to luxury. Courtyards with red sandstone carvings provide shade. Most of the 13 spaces preserved in the complex date to the 17th or 18th centuries. In the ultra-opulent Phool Mahal (Flower Palace), golden paintings depict 36 ragas (melodies) as well as royal portraits and divine legends. One source asserts the artist mixed glue and cow urine to affix the gilt. Other rooms showcase collections of paintings and howdahs for riding elephants. An inspired pairing upstairs lines royals cradles down the middle of a hallway lined with jali (stone screens) for the women to watch court life below.

Right: crushed shells mixed into the plaster add luster to the walls in the Moti Mahal, or Pearl Palace.

Sloping pathways and terraces lead down the hill. Poised midway between the bronze stone walls of the main fortress and the splashes of blue spreading out below, the gardens of Chokhelao Bagh are some of the loveliest in Rajasthan. Instead of raised forms, the layout uses pruned strips between planted areas to create the formal grid based on the four-part Islamic Paradise Garden. An upper area focuses on plants chosen to capture different seasons; the lower section was designed as a night garden. 

Left: the king’s bed-chamber (Takhat Vilas) uses mirrored balls suspended near the ceiling to reflect light and color. Right: Chokhelao Bagh’s upper terrace.

The Rathore dynasty ruled from 1389 to 1949, and lived in Mehrangarh until 1943. By the time Indira Gandhi abolished royal allowances 30 years later, the fortress was inhabited largely by bats. Maharaja Gaj Singh II began funding for the monument’s restoration by selling the bat droppings to chili farmers as fertilizer.

Jaswant Thada

Along with the clock tower, Sardar Singh also erected a memorial to his father Jaswant Singh – but this is no ordinary kiosk. Hindus often honor their ancestors along with deities, and Rajasthanis developed a distinctive form of cenotaph: the chhatri (umbrella) with a dome topping a set of columns on an elevated base. After witnessing massive and powerful white mausoleums such as the Taj Mahal, the Rathores erected a few full-fledged temples dedicated to illustrious members of the dynasty.

The young maharaja mixed multiple styles at a new site overlooking the city of Jodhpur. In a nod to the Mughals, his extravagant design uses pure white marble. The sheets are cut so thin, they literally glow in the sun when one stands inside. The structure’s layout resembles a European palace, while the roofs and carvings follow Rajathani traditions. The garden’s more typical cenotaphs look restrained by comparison.

Mandore Gardens

On the northern outskirts of modern Jodhpur, the Mandore Gardens complex offers a break from the tough desert landscape. Here the rocks give way to lanes brimming with sandstone chhatri set among leafy trees and fountains. It’s an idyllic spot for humans and monkeys alike.

Along with an impressive collection of traditional cenotaphs, Mandore Gardens also features memorial temples. These follow the regional style of architecture, with pronounced angles and extremely elaborate carvings.

At the gardens’ rear, remains of a fort and temple date to the sixth century, with traces of an even older settlement. Waves of invasions eventually prompted a relocation to the relative safety of Mehrangarh, but the maharanas continued to use Mandore for cremations until the end of the 19th century. A former summer residence for the queens now holds exhibits of paintings as well as ancient sculptures from the area.

Resources & Further Reading

The Mehrangarh Fort’s website has visiting information for the fort (including the museum and gardens of Chokhelao Bagh) and Jaswant Thada.

Rudyard Kipling’s dispatch from Jodhpur focuses on the city’s mania for horses during the Raj. We stayed in the equestrian-themed Pal Haveli hotel, in one of the rooms designed to house a former owner’s beloved horses.

Episode 6 (‘Cities’) of the documentary series Planet Earth II features the langur monkeys of Mandore Gardens.

For more color-coded architecture in Rajasthan, see our posts on pink Jaipur and white Udaipur.