Meharangarh Fort Jodhpur #Heritage

This week Indispire prompts us to write a post about visiting a heritage site. In the last week of September and first week of October of 2019, I had visited Mehrangarh fort at Jodhpur – a heritage site.

Built on a hill by Rao Jodha between 1459 and modified / upgraded between 1638 – 1678, Meharangarh fort is between 350 to 550 years old.

Mehrangarh Fort, From a Distance

From a distance the fort looked imposing, sitting on a hillock around 400 feet above the ground.

A View From the Parking Lot

A winding road lead us to base of the fort from the parking lot below.

At the Base of the Fort

I was unfit and weary of climbing up the steps. As if god listened to my prayers. I came to know at the ticket counter that an elevator has been installed for some years now, for people like me. Up we went up to the thirteenth floor without any problem.

On the Thirteenth Floor of the Fort

From the thirteenth floor we embarked on our upward journey on foot upto the sixteenth floor. We covered different rooms, some were meant for the kings, many were for the queens. Jodhpur royals had many queens, some as many as thirty. There were rooms dedicated to prayer, rooms intended for relaxation, some rooms stored royal armoury, others had cribs for royal babies.

Unlike a good travel writer, I could not pay attention to crucial details of each room of the site. Details slipped away, guide moved on to a different topic, as I tried to take photographs.

Royal Line of Marwar Kings

I came across this genealogy of Marwar Royals framed on one of the walls.

Royal Seat

Shown above is a royal seat where king would hear grievances of his common subjects.

Royal Dress, Stiched with Gold Threads

A View from the Sixteenth Floor

Inner Courtyard for Meena Bazar and Playing Holi

Pride of Marwar – Safa on the Head and Mouchtach on the Face

Enjoying a Smoke – In Earlier Times, Smoke would be Laced with Opium

Marwari Man and Bengali Lassies

A View of Ummaid Bhawan – Residence of Current Jodhpur Royals, From the Fort

Intrepid Team, That Conquered Fort Mehrangarh Huffing and Puffing; Jeans Torn at the Knees is a Testimony to Their Struggle

Mehrangarh fort has an UNESCO approved shop. Visitors can pickup mementos and knick knacks there. Our guide recommended us to pick up something from the shop. My avid bargainer wife was neither happy for not able to bargain, nor did she find the price acceptable. At different levels, fort has stall for drinks and one restaurant for food.

Visitors have to pay for entry fee for the fort, fee for carrying a camera, and pay for using the elevator. Besides, if anyone wishes to employ services of a guide, fee will be extra. We paid around one thousand rupees for six people carrying one camera and availing elevator. Fee for employing a guide for six people was six hundred rupees.

Jodhpur can be reached by road, rail and air. From Delhi, we availed Mandore Express from Delhi for overnight journey and arrived at Jodhpur at eight in the morning.

Note : This post is written in response to Indispire prompt. More posts responding to the prompt may be found here.