The Blue City of Rajasthan

When traveling, you realize that differences are lost; each city takes to resembling all cities, places exchange their form, order, distances, a shapeless dust cloud invades the continent. I am not a great cook, I am not a great artist, but I love art, and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller. This destination to the kingdom of palaces has gave me a royal experience of its varied culture, tradition and history of the bygone era. The picture above is Ummaid Bhavan or Ummaid Palace.

The Palace is divided into three functional parts – the residence of the royal family, a luxury Taj Palace Hotel and a Museum focusing on the 20th-century history of the Jodhpur Royal Family.

The museum has exhibits of stuffed leopards and a very large symbolic flag given to Maharaja Jaswant Singh by Queen Victoria.

The classic cars of the Maharajas are also on display in the garden in front of the museum, some of which I've shared below.

Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey. Therefore, I never travel without my diary. There should always be something sensational to take back from the place you visited, a memory that will always remain fresh in your mind forever. This suncity or blue city created many beautiful memories that will be cherished for a lifetime.

The empty corridors and green lawns have great stories to talk about the royal rajput families. The Rathores, ruled Marwar in western Rajasthan. The clan traces its lineage back to Rama, the mythical hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana and through him back to the sun god Surya himself. Which is why the Rathores also called themselves Suryavanshi or family of the sun. Hence, probably, the name Suncity given to Jodhpur.

Proximity to the Mughals led to art and culture flourishing in Jodhpur apart from trade and commerce and relatively peace. The interior central dome sits above the sky blue inner dome.

The palace was designed as a blend of western technology and Indian architectural features.The interior of the palace is in art deco design, a fine example of Indo-deco; which is credited to J.S. Norblin, a refugee from Polan, who created the frescoes in the throne room.

The initial objective of constructing this palace was to provide employment to the famine-stricken farmers of Jodhpur and help and save them during severe famine.

The hotel wing of the palace is run by the Taj Group of Hotels and is called the 'Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace Jodhpur. It was here that the famous Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas got married in 2018. Well, the image below are of my twinkling stars of the legal world.

Few other palaces of Jodhpur that offer equal visual treat to the eyes of Jodhpur's rich heritage and architecture are Jaswant Tada, Phool Mahal, Mehrangarh fort, Toori ka jhalra (which I shared in my previous blog), Jaipol, Phalodi fort, etc.

The intricate carvings of the stone on these palace walls are mesmerizing. India has such skilled and talented workmanship. Proud of India.

The city also offers vibrant traditional puppet toys which tell the tales of rajas, maharajas and the maharanis. There are puppet shows held in one of the museums that entertain the tourists with Rajasthani folk tales and folk dances.

After these visits, our tummies craved for those yummy crunchies and sweets made of pure ghee. One of the shops that we hopped into served fresh special paneer kachoris, samosas and mouth watering ras malai, gulab jamuns, ras gulla, jalebis and tens of other sweets - authentic rajasthani style. Loved it.