Mesmerizing Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur – Part 3

Here goes my concluding part through my favorite Mehrangarh Fort. So far –  Part One, I took you through the gates into the palace courtyard and then, further on in part two, we discovered the stunning treasures and rooms of the palace. I took you through the lovely Sheesh Mahal and then the Phool Mahal. If you recall, I was a little overwhelmed with the glitz of the Phool Mahal that I took a breather in the terrace of the Jhanki Mahal.

Having done so, let’s move ahead through the rest of this mesmerizing journey of Mehrangarh Fort.

Through the Sileh Khana

The armoury section of the fort had the boys excited. Granted they had a lot of unusual weapons but well, it does not really get a girl’s adrenaline high 😀 We girls, posed against the fan of spears to get a tribal look.

To be honest, I had seen an interesting place before I entered this section and I was itching to get there. I zipped through this section to head to the Takhat Nivas.

Takhat Nivas at Mehrangarh Fort

For a moment, I was wondering if they celebrated X’mas here. What with the X’mas balls hanging from the ceiling, till I was explained that these were the chambers of Maharaja Takhat Singh and he was a great patron of arts. If you note the interiors are filled with paintings from the Hindu mythology. The X’mas balls? They were just a gift from the British and hence, were hung around.

One more funny thing that you can note here. Check the length of the bed. Wondering if the Maharaja was a dwarf?

No ! No such thing. He was a regular sized man but the bed was deliberately made small so that his legs would touch the ground and if he was under attack, could react fast. Argh! Talk of Power and loss of sleep!

From here we exited to the most stunning views of the Blue City and of course, people enjoying their zip lines 🙂

The Blue City of Jodhpur

These pictures totally justify why this city has got its color. Are you wondering why the city is Blue?

There were several explanations given –

• The homes that are painted blue belonged to the Brahmin community in service of the Royal house of Jodhpur. In early times, this city was called Brahmapuri.
• Some say it was to combat the blazing heat of the city
• Yet another explanation was that the homes were getting attacked by termites and there was a belief that blue color helped keep them away.

Whatever the reason, the effect from these windows was amazing. While here, we were also, treated to the sight of people enjoying zip lines.

The terrain seemed so unusual and the activity was fun. I am given to understand that a company called Flying Fox organizes this and given the 5 different lines it had, it really seemed like a good activity to do. If only this visit gave me some time, I would have tried it. But for this time, I was content just capturing the scene in my camera.

Welcome to Jhanki Mahal

Here we entered the Zenana or the women’s quarters of the Mehrangarh Fort. Like I mentioned in the earlier part, the Jhanki Mahal was the Palace of Glimpses. The rooms were used by the Royal ladies to peep down at the royal proceedings in the courtyard. Today, you can see some gorgeous cradles of the royal children kept here. Gosh! Even these were so unusual and artistic. Check out some of them here.

Here is a glimpse of the blue ceilings of Jhanki Mahal.

Besides the ceiling, the windows and the lovely light from it caught our fancy and we spend a lot of time taking pictures here for our personal memories of this palace.

The Moti Mahal of Mehrangarh Fort

Moti means Pearl and this room was a perfect metaphor to this. Remember I mentioned in my least part that I would be sharing my favorite room in the concluding part. One look at it and you know why it is my favorite.

Moti Mahal was the “Hall of Public Audience” or the Diwan-e-Aam section of Mehrangarh Fort. It is supposed to be one of the oldest parts of this fort and was built by Sawai Raja Sur Singh. As compared to all the rooms that I had seen so far, this one was more to my taste.

The simple white finish of the room that was flushed with colors – thanks to the gorgeous stained glass windows and the stunning glass and mirror work ceilings. A little minimalist with a touch of extravagance.

Exiting through the Zenana Deodi

From here we exited to the Zenana courtyard or the Zenana Deodi. The courtyard was filled with lovely sandstone windows and jhalis.

It is here that you can shop for  some museum artifacts – which aren’t too expensive but neither too cheap. From Bangles to bags and handicraft items, you can pick something for yourself or your home. Me – I zipped through, keen to get outside to capture what I had missed when I had entered the fort. Shopping for me was secondary! 🙂

Saying goodbye to Mehrangarh Fort

Here are some more sights that I captured on my way out – of the exteriors, the turrets and balconies, the gates and of course the cannon. Don’t miss the view of the blue city beyond.

It was hard to stop once I had started. Only the clock ticking had me moving along. With these last few glimpses of Mehrangarh fort, I bid good-bye to it. I was thrilled. I had visited the fort well, but I could do with one more visit. Maybe someday, I will go back here. Hope you had fun with me in this last concluding part. Comment in and tell me what you have though of the entire series on Mehrangarh Fort – one of the things to do in Jodhpur. What is your favorite part of this fort? I sure would love to know.

In case you have missed the first and second part of the fort, you can click the links below to catch up. Information on how to get here and other travel tips are available in Part One.

Part One of Mesmerizing Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

Part Two of Mesmerizing Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur