We stopped in Jodhpur to break up our journey from Udaipur to Jaisalmer, but it turned out to be one of our favorite spots in India. Jodhpur is home to the Mehrangarh Fort. The fort is impressive because it's not only immense, but covered in impossibly intricate stone carving. Check it out:
Much of the carving is simply decorative. But the window shades were practical, or at least purposeful:they blocked the public or visiting men from seeing the royal women within.
In Jodhpur we saw much more of the trappings of India's caste system than we had seen in the south. For example, the neighborhood surrounding the fort was reserved for members of the Brahmin class - the priests - who are delineated from their neighbors by their blue houses and pink turbans:
In addition to the fort, the main sights in Jodhpur are the mausoleum at the Jaswant Thada:
And the markets surrounding the famous clocktower, which sold over 13 varieties of rice:
And the amazing fabrics we see the women wearing here. Another cultural difference between Rajasthan and the other states we've visited is the way women wear their scarves here. In Mumbai scarves were generally draped across the collarbone and hung down the back of the shoulders. Further south they might be worn over the hair. But here women wear their scarves over their faces. The scarves are silk, they are transluscent, and presumably easier to see out of then in to. They, along with the carved-stone window shades at the fort, are another reflection of the cultural influence the invading Mughals had on the local Hindu culture.
We also saw the candied fennel seeds restaurants serve with toothpicks after dinner:
My deepest appreciation was for Jodhpur's sweets. I ate my first rasmalai and rasgullas in Jodhpur, and they ended up being the best of the trip. Like gulab jamun, ras are milk products. In this case the milk is boiled down to a spongey disk and soaked in cream and saffron for malai and in rose water for gullas. They're served cold and I loved them.
The last of Jodhpur's delights were mammalian. We saw our first camel (well my first of the trip, Aaron's first since Egypt):
And an elephant in rush-hour traffic:
Love it.xoxo Jessie
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