Top Places in Jodhpur to Visit On Your Next Trip

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Jodhpur is a pretty city located in the heart of Rajasthan. From forts to those picture perfect step wells, the city has it all. Read on to find out about all the top places in Jodhpur to visit on your upcoming trip to the royal city.

Mehrangarh fort

The stunning Mehrangarh Fort is a the main fort in the city of Jodhpur. The name of the fort literally translates to ‘Fort of the Sun’. It is situated on a hill top and the magnificent structure leaves it’s mark on the Jodhpur skyline. It is surely one of the most impressive fortresses in all of the state making it one of the top places in Jodhpur to visit on your upcoming trip to the city.

The entrance ticket to the fort costs 120 Rs for Indians and 600 Rs for other nationalities. There is also a lift facility for those who would like avoid the steep hike up. The additional charge for the lift is 50 Rs. one way. The fort is open to visitors daily from 9 am to 5 pm.

Ummed Bhavan Palace

The Ummed Bhaven Palace is high up on the list of top places in Jodhpur to visit. The grand majestic palace is one of the largest in the country. It is situated on Chittar Hill, right outside the urban center of the city. You can easily reach the palace by a tuk-tuk or a cab. Cab booking apps – Uber and Ola are both available in the city.

Today there are three sections in the palace. One wing of the palace serves as a residence of the royal family of Jodhpur. The second wing of the palace has been converted into the Taj Ummed Bhavan Palace Hotel. The third and last section of the palace is the only one open to the public as a museum.

This museum has a huge collection of artifacts from the Palace and the royal family. This includes various memorabilia from porcelain to watches to a collection of vintage cars.

The museum is open to the public every day from 9 am to 5 pm. The entrance fees for Indians is 30 Rs. and 100 Rs. for other nationalities.

Toorji Ka Jhalra Step Well

The Toorji Ka Jhalra Step Well is the picture perfect step well in the sun city. The Step Well was built in the 1740s and is still very well preserved even today. In olden days, it was the only source of drinking water in the city. Today, it serves as an unofficial swimming pool for the local kids who can be seen diving in the waters.

Toorji Ka Jhalra is located right in the city center of Jodhpur and is free to visit. Head there around sunset and you will find many tourists and locals alike sitting by the step well and enjoying some peace and quiet. There are also various roof top cafes and restaurants around the step well if you would like to grab a bite or a coffee.

The Blue City

While the locals call Jodhpur the Sun City, the city is also popularly known as the blue city of India. This is because the outer facades of most of the houses in the old part of town are colored blue.

The story behind this is that the king who founded the city of Jodhpur wanted to build his empire. To do so, he invited the educated class of people also known as Brahmins, from the regions around to settle in Jodhpur. But the city got very hot in summer (which is why it got the nickname of the sun city) and the residents were very unhappy with the heat. So to make them happy and ensure that they didn’t leave the kingdom, the King invited a famous architect from Iran to design the city.

This architect was the one who built the city using limestone which helped in keeping the houses cool on the inside. But unfortunately the white color of the limestone ended up attracting various insects. So in order to stop that, he added indigo to the limestone and used that to layer the outer facade. This kept the houses cool and kept the insects at bay.

Just a walk in the blue city will give you a feel of real India. The city is filled with typical tiny Indian streets. Wandering through these streets, you are sure to get lost as most of these streets look similar.

The Blue city also has some perfect sunset spots with a view of the entire city and it’s blue houses. Make sure you find your way to one of these spots right before sunset and watch the sun go down on the city.

BOOK YOUR WALKING TOUR OF THE BLUE CITY HERE

Ghanta Ghar

The clock tower of the city of Jodhpur is known as Ghanta Ghar among the locals. Maharaja Sardar Singh, the ruler of the city of Jodhpur, commissioned the building of this tower. It is one of the prominent landmarks in the city even today. In the square surrounding this monument is one of the local markets of the city. In the 7000 small and medium sized shops around the clock tower, you will find various local handicrafts, souvenirs, local knick-knacks and a lot more.

Make sure you buy some of the local memorabilia while you are here. The local artisans from the region are renowned for block printing, tie die, bandhani work and various other crafts. Products like block print bed sheets, traditional jhootis (the local footwear with traditional prints), kurtas (a kind of Indian outfit), bangles etc. can be bought here at extremely reasonable prices and can be bargained for as well.

Jaswant Thada

Among the magnificent structures that leave their mark on the Jodhpur city skyline is the stunning Jaswant Thada. That definitely makes it one of the top places in Jodhpur to visit on your upcoming trip to the city.

Maharaja Sardar Singh built this grand monument in honor of his late father, Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. Today the monument serves as a cremation ground for the royals of the Marwar family of Jodhpur.

The monument is open to the public every day from 9 am to 5 pm. Entrance tickets cost about 15 Rs. for Indians and 30 Rs. for other nationalities. There is an additional charge of 25 Rs. for cameras and 50 Rs. for video cameras.

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