It began to drizzle yet again by the time we reached Mehranagarh.The fort is so imposing that human beings look so tiny in front of it.The whole of the place was swarming with the Baba Ramdev pilgrims and there was not an inch of place for anybody.We rushed through to the booking counter and we were surprised,inspite of all the confusion and crowds.Everything was so orderly and there was not even a hint of shouting around by the fort staff.We took our tickets and the camera ticket and we decided to take a lift ticket as well(something that we did not use).The next counter is for the Audio Guide.
The formidable fort
Quite a comfortable and ingenious way to see the fort.You are handed a small device in the shape of a credit card swiping machine with ear phones.The person who explained to us the process to use the device was quite a character,I actually wished that we had a video camera with us just to film him.One could just fall in love with the place and the audio guide just by listening to him,his presentation was that lovely.Now for how the audio guide works,inside the fort are placed numbers at important points of interest and once you reach that particular point,you are expected to key in the numbers denoted at that point and the voice begins to explain things related to that point of interest.The voice and presentation is replete with music,drama etc.Lovely experience.
The entry to the fort is a steep climb and then there is a sudden right angle turn into the fort.This was built like this to prevent enemy elephants from knocking down the fort gates.Apparently the elephants lose momentum when they have to take steep turns.Forget the elephants,even for us humans it was a steep climb.
The climb:
Legend goes that the then ruler of the region-Rao Jodha whose previous capital was the Mandore fort,felt that the fort was weak did not offer any security and hence decided to move his capital to the present location of Mehrangarh.Prior to this,the mountain was called Bhaurcheeria(Mountain of birds) and Cheeria Nathji(Lord of Birds)was the only resident of the hill.According to a famous local legend, when Rao Jodha asked Cheeria Nathji to leave the place, he was hurt and cursed Jodha that his fort will always have a dearth of water. And it is a fact that even today the place suffers from drought every now and then.Then to make his fort really strong,he decided to bury a man alive in the walls of the fort.It was a belief that if a man is buried alive in the walls of a building then the building becomes very strong and survives long periods of time.To satisfy the ruler a man called Rajiya Bhambi came forward to sacrifice his life.Rao Jodha promised him that the Rathores will always look after Rajiya's family and he kept his word.
As one enters the fort,one is greeted by a the most discomforting sight(at least for us it definitely was).On the wall you would find palm imprints of women who have committed "Sati".The ritual was that as women walked from the palace to the pyres of their husbands they gave away all their jewellry enroute and finally just before leaving the gate,they imprint their palms on the walls and then walk towards the pyre.Some of the palms were so small that they could have been palms of 16-year olds and 12-year olds.A disgusting practice.Thank goodness that we had people like Raja Ram Mohan Roy who came along!
The palm imprints:
By then the rain began to come down pretty heavy so we decided to take a pit stop at Cafe Mehran,a lovely cosy cafe,we entered with the impression that the place would be extremely expensive etc,but the moment we took a look at the menu,we were ok,we opted for a Rajasthani Thali priced at INR 140,which was pretty good and was made fresh.We did notice that the chefs(if you could call them that!!)were all women,and you could experience the womenly hand in the dishes!
Me @ Cafe Mehran with all the audio gizmo plugged in!
After a brief stop for about 30minutes we resumed our walk.We then walked through several sections of the fort having the armoury,the costumes etc,there was a beautiful courtyard as well.Following this we went towards the Sheesh Mahal and the climb through the narrow staircase was quite a revelation.
Brazilian Glass Artistry
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For people who have chosen to take the audio guide there is an audio guide user's lounge in between the walk.This is a boon,especially for people who have children alongwith them.Its basically a place to sit back,relax,water refreshments etc available at a price & most importantly there are super-clean rest rooms.There is also a video running of the current Jodhpur royalty,showcasing the developmental works undertaken by the family in and around Jodhpur.
After this stop we proceeded towards the exit and handed over the audi guide back and did the customary souvenir shopping at the fort shops and from thereon went onto the ramparts of the fort for the customary Blue-Buildings photo-op.The fort facing walls of houses around the fort are painted blue to denote the caste of the people living in the houses.Blue denotes that the houses belong to brahmins.A hint of Casteism?Whats new in that!
The famed Blue Walls
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Jaswant Thada at a distance (Royal Cenotaph)
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The Royal Seat
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Music for the little ears
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Havent ever seen somebody sing like these two-such rawness
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A Devi Temple inside the fort
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By the time we came out of the fort it was 5 in the evening.A full 5 hour tour of the fort and something that we would cherish for the rest of our lifetime.Amazing tour.
The Downhill out of the fort
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From there,we decided to head back to the hotel and enroute we stopped by some sweet shop and bought some amazing Choorma-Laddus and the abundantly famous Mirchi-Wadas of Jodhpur.We were expecting the usual kind of Chilli dipped in besan and fried kind of wadas,but we were in for a pleasant surprise.We could hardly eat one apiece.These had a slice of chilli in between and packed on either sides with a healthy stuffing of potato and onions and then fried in besan.It was quite a discovery.
We headed back to the hotel and had an early dinner and settled in for the night.This was our last night in Jodhpur and went to bed with pleasant memories of having spent a long time among the Rathores of Jodhpur.Afterall we were guests in their palace & fort for a good half day!
Next day was again a drive day,we would be driving to Jaipur in the morning.Account of that in the next section.
Coming Up: Jaipur