Rajasthan
WESTERN
R AJASTHAN
Rajasthan
Si GHTS
& A CT iViTiES
Rajasthan
JODHPUR
There’s a charge of ₹10 for each person (in-
cluding bus passengers) and car as you enter
Mt Abu.BUS
Services from Mt Abu bus stand include:
Ahmedabad (₹150, seven hours, hourly from
6am to 9pm)
Jaipur (seat/sleeper ₹718/768, 11 hours,
6.30pm)
Jodhpur (₹224, six hours, 6.45am, 8.30am and
12.30pm)
Udaipur (₹153 to ₹160, 4½ hours, 8am,
9.15am, 1pm and 4.30pm)TRAIN
Abu Road station is on the line between Delhi
and Mumbai via Ahmedabad. An autorickshaw
from Abu Road train station to Abu Road bus
stand costs ₹10. Mt Abu has a railway reserva-
tion centre (h8am-2pm Mon-Sat) above the
tourist office.Around Mt Abu
Guru Shikhar
At the northeast end of the Mt Abu plateau,
17km by the winding road from the town,
rises 1722m-high Guru Shikhar, Rajasthan’s
highest point. A road goes almost all the way
to the summit and the Atri ̈Rishi ̈Temple,
complete with a priest and fantastic, huge
views. A popular spot, it’s a highlight of the
RSRTC tour. If you decide to go it alone, a
jeep will cost at least ₹500 return.WESTERN RAJASTHAN
Jodhpur
% 0291 / POP 1 MILLION
Mighty Mehrangarh, the muscular fort that
towers over the Blue City of Jodhpur, is a
magnificent spectacle and an architectural
masterpiece. Around Mehrangarh’s base,
the old city, a jumble of Brahmin-blue cubes,
stretches out to the 10km-long, 16th-century
city wall. The ‘Blue City’ really is blue! Inside
is a tangle of winding, glittering, medieval
streets, which never seem to lead where you
expect them to, scented by incense, roses
and sewers, with shops and bazaars selling
everything from trumpets and temple deco-
rations to snuff and saris. Traditionally, bluesignified the home of a Brahmin, but non-
Brahmins have got in on the act too. As well
as glowing with a mysterious light, the blue
tint is thought to repel insects.
Modern Jodhpur stretches well beyond
the city walls, but it’s the immediacy and
buzz of the old Blue City and the larger-than-
life fort that capture travellers’ imaginations.
This crowded, hectic zone is also Jodhpur’s
main tourist area, and it often seems you
can’t speak to anyone without them trying
to sell you something. Areas of the old city
further west, such as Navchokiya, are just as
atmospheric, with far less hustling.History
Driven from their homeland of Kannauj,
east of Agra, by Afghans serving Moham-
med of Ghori, the Rathore Rajputs fled west
around AD 1200 to the region around Pali,
70km southeast of Jodhpur. They prospered
to such a degree that in 1381 they managed
to oust the Pratiharas of Mandore, 9km
north of present-day Jodhpur. In 1459 the
Rathore leader Rao Jodha chose a nearby
rocky ridge as the site for a new fortress
of staggering proportions, Mehrangarh,
around which grew Jodha’s city: Jodhpur.
Jodhpur lay on the vital trade route be-
tween Delhi and Gujarat. The Rathore king-
dom grew on the profits of sandalwood,
opium, dates and copper, and controlled a
large area which became cheerily known
as Marwar (the Land of Death) due to its
harsh topography and climate. It stretched
as far west as what’s now the India–Pakistan
border area, and bordered with Mewar
(Udaipur) in the south, Jaisalmer in the
northwest, Bikaner in the north and Jaipur
and Ajmer in the east.1 ̈Sights ̈& ̈Activities
Mehrangarh ̈ FORT
(www.mehrangarh.org; museum admission ₹300/
250, camera/video ₹100/200, guide ₹200; h9am-
5pm) Rising perpendicular and impregnable
from a rocky hill that itself stands 120m
above Jodhpur’s skyline, Mehrangarh is one
of the most magnificent forts in India. The
battlements are 6m to 36m high, and as the
building materials were chiselled from the
rock on which the fort stands, the struc-
ture merges with its base. Still run by the
Jodhpur royal family, Mehrangarh is packed
with history and legend.
Mehrangarh’s main entrance, at the
northeast gate, Jai ̈Pol, is a 300m walk up