India Travel Guide

Meherangarh Fort
Described by Kipling as the work of angels and giants, Jodhpur's Meherangarh Fort (daily: summer 8.30am-5.30pm; winter 9am-5pm; Rs250 entry includes audio tour if you leave ID as deposit; plus Rs50 for camera, Rs200 video; elevator Rs15; www.maharajajodhpur.com), provides what must be the most authentic surviving taste of the ceaseless round of war, honour and extravagance that characterized Rajputana. It wasn't always so stunning, however. For decades it was locked up, caked in bat droppings, until in 1972, the current, Oxford-educated maharaja - who was born a midnight child in the year of India's Independence and took office at the age of four - created a foundation to rescue the derelict edifice. Unlike the fort in Jaisalmer it is uninhabited, its paths trodden only by visitors to the temples and palaces within its high crenellated walls.

On the wall next to Loha Pole, the sixth of seven gates designed to hinder the ascent of charging enemy elephants up a steep winding cobbled road, you can see the handprints of Maharaja Man Singh's widows. Following the Rajput code of honour, they voluntarily ended their lives in 1843 on their husband's pyre, in defiance of the law against sati passed in 1829 by the British. Beyond the massive Suraj Pole, the final gate, lie the palaces that now serve as the superb Meherangarh Museum. From the courtyards, you can see the fantastic jali (lattice) work that almost entirely covers their sandstone walls and balconies, as well as a portrait of Rao Jodha himself. Solid silver howdahs (elephant seats) and palanquins are on display, as well as daggers and photos of the maharajas' coronations. One prize exhibit is a 250-year-old pure silk tent seized during a raid on the Moghul court in Delhi. In the Jhanki Mahal, or "Queen's Palace", there's a colourful array of cradles of former rulers, while Moti Mahal ("Pearl Palace") holds the nine cushions reserved for the nine heads of the Jodhpurian state (and one central cushion for the maharaja). Outside, in Shangar Chowk ("King's Coronation Courtyard"), is the majestic marble coronation seat upon which all the rulers apart from Jodha have been, and still are, crowned. Nearby, the royal astrologer provides consultations for a Rs150-300 fee. The most elaborate of the apartments is Phool Mahal ("Flower Palace"), a dancing hall for the entertainment of the maharaja and his guests. Pictures of dancers, deities and rulers look out from its walls and wooden ceilings.