words from the world

The cow is holy in India and nobody is moved when one of them roams in the train station hall of Jaisalmer. We go to Jodhpur we reach late in the evening. We laid in a laid-back guesthouse among a maze of alleyways.
The close stitches of this asphalted network filter the sound pollution because only pedestrians and bicycles can slip through in some parts. Jodhpur is a quiet city. I didn't think we could use this term for an Indian town.
Jodhpur has the distinctive feature to be built around a fort overlooking the vicinity from the top of a mound, the Meherangarh fort which Kipling, in his day, described as "work of angels and giants". The winding and narrow streets lap its foothills. We pace them and step out a stairway leading to the fort.
So be the Rajasthan province; not a city that doesn't boast of possessing excessive fortifications within its close horizon.
We go though the fort entrance specially reinforced against the elephants' charges. The balconies, alcoves and main buildings got a particular attention from the local craftsmen. Outside, the inhospitable and gloomy lines of the ramparts to show the assailant he isn't very welcome and inside, the gentle bends of richly carved illuminations. Better to be from the maharaja side. Cannons occupy a few crenellations of the mighty wall and point at a hypothetical enemy. From the fortification, the vista on the blue city is splendid. Terraces on the rooftops, intricate alleyways and azure-hued walls. A soothing color which contrasts with the hostile desire of the cannons of the fortress.





















Before closing the short visit into the blue city we stop at the Jaswant Singh II memorial, benefactor of the town during the 19th century.