The Blue City and Ranakpur's astounding 1,444 pillars

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December 30th 2011

Published: January 15th 2012

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Around the World in 2 and 80 Days

Jodhpur

Jodhpur's clock tower in the old city

Our next stop was Jodphur, the blue city famous for its pale blue houses overshadowed by the dominating Mehrangarh Fort and for being the place where horse riding breeches (jodphurs) were designed. Within the fort's towering walls was an amazing array of beautiful courtyards and corridors and lavishly decorated palaces. There was also an impressive collection of elephant howdaths and palaquins, formerly used to transport Maharajas during royal processions, and also collections of elaborate cradles and extensive armoury. The views from the impressive ramparts, so wide that they can hold 6 horses abreast, were fantastic, especially at sunset. From there we could also see Jaswant Thada, the cenotaph of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, which we visited the next day. This Maharaja invented an innovative irrigation system, and people still believe he has a healing touch and come to his cenotaph for his blessing offering prayers and flowers. It was there that we came across a group of girl guides who were dressed in the traditional girl guide blue colours but with an Indian take on the uniform style...

From Jodphur we took a day trip to see the breathtaking Jain temple at Ranakpur and the hillside fort at Kumbalgarh. The

Jodhpur

Sadar Bazaar - can you see the bangle sellers?

Jain temple is one of the most important and impressive in India with a forest of 1,444 intricately carved white marble pillars, each unique. These were matched by the stunningly detailed concentric ceilings. You can really appreciate why the carvers' daily earnings were determined by the weight of their marble shavings. The most distinctive aspect about Kumbalgarh is its 36km wall, apparently only second in length to the Great Wall of China, which encloses a staggering 360 temples.

Our day trip was made even more entertaining by our amusing taxi driver who helped us pass the time by challenging us with riddles and games. Here's a sample of one of his riddles. Answers on the back of a postcard, or leave a comment with your answer. The first to get it right, may get a special prize (or maybe not...)

It's your birthday, and you are planning a celebration today, but you need to have 20 animals at your party, at least one elephant, one horse and one camel. However, you only have 20 rupees to spend, which you must spend all of. When you go to the Market, you find the animal sellers and discover the price

Jodhpur

The imposing Mehrangarh Fort overlooking the city

of an elephant is 4 Rupees, a horse is 50 Paise (2 horses for 1 Rupee) and a camel is 25 Paise (4 camels for 1 Rupee).

So, how many elephants, horses and camels can you buy for your party to spend exactly 20 Rupees and end up with exactly 20 animals?

Additional photos below

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Jodhpur

Elephant howdath

Jodhpur

Palaquin covered in gold leaf from 1730

Jodhpur

Opium smoking

Jodhpur

Phool Mahal "The Flower Palace" the public hall of audience decorated with intricate traditional Rajasthani miniature paintings.

Jodhpur

One of the former Maharaja's chambers where he used to entertain his 30 queens and numerous concubines. The Christmas baubles from England were added in 1930s.