The blue, western Rajasthani city of Jodhpur (yes, the birthplace of jodhpurs), is presided over by the astonishing 16th century Mehrangarh Fort. Still run by the descendants of the Maharaja of Jodhpur, the soaring Fort and palaces within it are now an awe-inspiring world-class museum.In its heyday the rulers put beauty on an equal footing with functionality, clearly evident in the architecture, furniture and equipment throughout the massive complex. But it wasn’t all about sweetness and aesthetics back then – far from it. When the perceived need arose, the former Maharajas and their clans were capable of great courage, and viciousness too. Surrender wasn’t considered an option and when defeat and death in battle were inevitable, the wives and daughters would suicide on a funeral pyre then await their men in paradise. Next morning the men would charge out on their steeds to face certain death, taking as many of the enemy as possible with them. (But wouldn’t it be a real bummer if they awoke in the morning to discover that the enemy had made a surprise retreat overnight? - presumably this never happened though.)
We spent a few hours in fantastic Mehrangarh admiring the building and contents, and great views over the city. Along with the fascinating and beautiful palace exhibits there was a large weapon collection, including a nasty looking knife/scissor thing that the audio guide said would spring open when plunged into an enemy, “shredding the innards”. A nearby signboard stated that “Maharaja Man Singh once organized a shikaar (hunting party) near Nagaur. A tent was set up, and a durrie spread out. His guests were invited to sit and dine with him. Little did they know that underneath the durrie, gunpowder had been laid. After some time Maharaja Man Singh got up and withdrew. This was the signal to ignite the gunpowder, and the durrie was blown up, killing all the guests whom the Maharaja regarded as a personal threat.” Hmmm. The new ideas we’ve picked up for entertaining guests aren’t confined to the recipes Lee Tuan learned at her Indian cooking class in Cochin. Dinner anyone?
We also spent some time strolling around the nearby Jaswant Thada, a domed marble memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, and caught an auto-rickshaw out of town to the Umaid Bhawan Palace, now largely a luxury hotel. This huge edifice was begun as a job-creation project during a prolonged drought. 3,000 workers toiled for 15 years to complete it.
All this sightseeing required fuelling by great Indian food which we enjoyed on the roof-top terrace of the Krishna Prakash Haveli Hotel in the shadows of the Mehrangarh walls towering ominously above. But we checked under the durrie before the waiter came to take our order.
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