Rajasthan

Jodhpur

Jodhpur was founded in 1459 by Rao Jodha, chief of the Rathore clan, who relocated Marwar's capital from Mandore to the defensible ridge now crowned by Mehrangarh Fort. The indigo-painted houses clustered below the fort in the old Brahmin quarter gave the city its nickname, the Blue City, a color traditionally used to mark Brahmin homes and valued for its cooling effect in the desert heat. Umaid Bhawan Palace, one of the world's largest private residences, was built in the 1930s as a famine-relief employment project and today sits alongside the fort as the city's two defining landmarks.