India Guide
Rajasthan
Meherangarh Fort
Website: www.mehrangarh.org
Price: Rs250 entry, includes audio tour; camera Rs50, video Rs200; elevator Rs15; guide Rs100
Opening time: Daily: summer 8.30am–5.30pm, winter 9am–5pm
Jodhpur's Meherangarh Fort provides a taste of the war, honour and extravagance that characterized Rajputana. Huge and imposing, it dominates the city, though unlike the fort in Jaisalmer it is uninhabited, its paths trodden only by visitors.
The walk up to the fort from the old city is pretty steep, but you can reach the entrance by taxi or auto along the road from Nagauri Gate. The outstanding audio tour takes about two hours to complete. You enter the fort through Jai Pol, constructed in 1806, and the first of seven defensive gates on the way up to theliving quarters. The sixth gates, Loha Pol, has a sharp right-angle turn and sharper iron spikes to hinder the ascent of charging enemy elephants. On the wall just inside it you can see the handprints of Maharaja Man Singh's widows, placed there in 1843 as they left the palace to commit sati on his funeral pyre – the last mass sati by wives of a Marwari maharaja.
Beyond the final gate, the massive Suraj Pol, lies the Coronation Courtyard (Shangar Chowk), where maharajas are crowned on a marble throne. Fantastic jali (lattice) work almost entirely covers the surrounding sandstone walls. The adjoining apartments now serve as a museum showcasing solid silver howdahs (elephant seats), palanquins and assorted armaments including Akbar's own sword.
The most elaborate royal apartment, the magnificent 1724 Phool Mahal (Flower Palace), with its jewel-like stained-glass windows and gold filigree ceiling, was a pleasure hall used by the maharajas to listen to music or poetry, or watch dancers perform. In the Jhanki Mahal, or Queen's Palace, there's a colourful array of cradles of former rulers. The Moti Mahal (Pearl Palace) was used for councils of state. The five alcoves in the wall opposite the entrance are concealed balconies where the maharaja's wives could listen in on the proceedings.
Beyond the Moti Mahal is the Zenana, or women's quarters. From here, you descend to the Temple of Chamunda, the city's oldest temple, dedicated to Jodhpur's patron goddess, an incarnation of Durga.