Umaid Bhawan palace and Jaswant Thada in Jodphur

I realised that I still had some pictures from our trip to Jodphur to show you

guess I'll do that today, by showing you pictures of two landmarks in Jodphur;

the home of the Maharaja - Umaid Bhawan palace

and Jaswant Thada - the white marble memorial

impressive even from far away....almost like an illusion...

Umaid Bhawan is one of the worlds largest private residences...it has 347 rooms !

one part is today a hotel run by Taj , another part is the residence and the third is a museum

it was built between 1929 and 1943 

view from the memorial

Mehrangarh fort seen from Jaswant Thada

old places and new technology collide

the memorial was built by Maharaja Sardar Singh in 1899 in memory of his father Jaswant Singh II

it's entirely built out of carved sheets of white marble

extremely thin stones that allows the sun's rays to shine through...

Jodhpur sure is a place to visit if ever in Rajasthan

Life around the busy Sardar market, Jodphur

a walk around the busy market is a must of you are visiting
lots of winding alleys and narrow lanes with lots of people
Jodphur is a pretty small city though....only about a million people

         Gantha Ghar...the clocktower from where the market stretches in all directions

in the narrow lanes you can find everything : vegetables, spices, sweets, fabrics, jewellery etc...

in the midst a thirsty cow who got freshly pumped water served 

glass bangles...

the important water jars for sale

snacks...chips, seeds and beans

dried fruits...

this boy sold flutes !

( I really like this picture ! )

the impressive Mehrangarh Fort overlooking the city

vegetables and fruits always look fantastic

dressed for a ceremony

I did find some treasures...as always...my problem is what not to shop !

Mehrangarh Fort, part 2

the fort was so impressive that it deserves loads of pictures

so today I'll show you some pictures from "inside" the huge walls

the canons are many around the fort

all the men working at the fort was wearing the yellow turban

the museum is one of the best ones in Rajasthan ...showing old royal palanquins,

elephant howdah's, costumes,paintings etc etc

elephant howdah with sun protection

found one old piece of the original painting...

Phul Mahal....the Palace of flowers....a grand reception room

it's so decorated and so over the top with adornments 

I'm full of admiration of the craftsmanship in the ancient days...

Moti  Mahal..

Sheesh Mahal...this was Maharadja Ajit Singh's bedroom...

the original paintings are so beautiful....I'm sure happy that they've left some of them intact...

the new ones are not as good 

an old royal swing on the ground 

a truly magnificent place

Mehrangarh Fort, part 1

going through my pictures I realise that I have so many

that I haven't shown you....yet !

so today I'm taking you back to Jodphur in Rajasthan

to Mehrangarh Fort

an awesome fort from 1459 but most parts that we see today are from the era between 1638-78

in this part  I'll show you the exterior of the fort

the fort is 120 meters above the city

its's built on a mountain....the walls are between 6 and 36 meters high depending on the rocks

standing here it looked so impressive...

how could they do all this way back in time ?

as always....sweepers.....

musicians entertaining

the spikes on the big door are to keep the combat elephants out

they are put in the height of an elephant head

interesting ha ?

if you want to see the rest be sure to check my next post