City of Blue

On Friday I boarded a bus and rode 5 hours through the hot desert to the city of Jodhpur. I arrived in the evening with time enough to check into my hotel and then wander the streets a bit. Camels were not an unusual sight. I almost missed Pepsi...




The main marketplace of Jodhpur spirals out from the central clock tower...




Many were selling paints and squirt guns in preparation for the Holi festival...




Normal busy market scenes...









Some card players at the grain market...











There was some commotion with music and drums on one of the roofs near the clocktower. I went up for a look. There was a group of people covered in colored powder and dancing, there were also several news cameras.An interview was underway with one of the partiers....




It was a pre-Holi celebration. I would see a lot more faces like this in a day or so...











I went back to my hotel and up to the rooftop restaurant. The views of the Mehrangar Fort were incredible...




There was also live folk music and dancing on the rooftop...




I enjoyed a fun meal with a fellow from the UK and a couple from Italy, all of whom I met separately when I was in Jaisalmer. I had ran into them again since arriving in Jodhpur and we ended up together for dinner...





The next morning I woke up and went up to the rooftop restaurant for breakfast. Another beautiful day in India...




Porridge and a lassi with the langurs...




...all the while gawking at the impressive fort...




After breakfast I marched my way through the windy streets to the gate of the fort...






I paid admission and was given a slick audio guide by a man with way too much enthusiasm about audio guides.

It was an excellent tour throughout the fort and palaces. Here is where cannonballs once struck the mighty fortress...




From atop the fort walls you could look out over the blue city....



Spiked gate to keep ramming elephants away...




Where the maharajas were crowned and anointed with blood pricked from the priest...




Some would say this guy has the best job in India: he sits there and gives live demonstrations of how to smoke opium...




The several palaces inside the fort were fancy shmancy...




A turban-tying demonstration...








Turban envy...




Another posh palace room...



The Women's Court...




Inside the fort...



Another perspective of the blue city...




Next I visited a cenotaph where past maharajahs were cremated...






Shoes off! The cool marble felt good to walk on. This is one of the MANY people throughout my trip who asked for a photo with me...




There was a nice view of the fort as well...







I wandered back into the city and along the narrow labyrinthine streets. The people watching was great...




These kids were drumming and getting ready for Holi...




Donkey got a bit of early celebration...




It was fun walking the streets on such a festive day. It felt almost like Christmas Eve. The next day would be Holi. Soon I would be as blue as the houses...




I slept in a bit and had a peaceful breakfast on the roof in view of the fort. In seemed like any other day. That is, until I stepped outside the hotel...



Luckily, I went out prepared. I wore clothes that I didn't mind discarding, flip-flops, no watch, my money belt wrapped in plastic, and my camera wrapped carefully in an old Winder Dairy bread bag with holes carefully cut for the straps. I hoped it would be protected from the celebrations of the day.

I avoided the extreme water throwing, but as I passed each colored person in the street, they would pull out a bit of powder (or liquid) paint, paint my face and wish me "Happy Holi!"

From the Simple English article from Wikipedia on Holi:

Holi is one of the major festivals of Hindus. It is celebrated in many parts of India, but especially in the north of India. The festival is celebrated for two to three days. People pour colored water on each other and cook many types of sweets and other food. Holi is celebrated in spring because it is welcoming spring. They believe spring is full of colours so the throw coloured water on eachother. They also believe that it welcomes the new year, so it's actually also a sort of New Year for them. It is interesting how holi started. Here's a story: Hiranyakasipu (the king of demons) had son, Prahlad. Prahlad was the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu.Hiranyakashyap wanted to kill his son.So he called his sister,Holika. (Holika = holi). She had a magic robe.This robe had the power to save the wearer from burning in fire. Hiranyakashyap ordered his sister to sit on burning fire along with prahlad.He thought that her sister would not be harmed by fire because of the magic robe and Prahlad would be burnt to death. But the result was the opposite to what the evil demon king planned. As is believed, no one can harm the person who has God as his saviour. Thus Prahlad came out of the burning fire safely and Holika was burnt to death.The other day is celebrated with joyful colours to mark the victory of virtue And goodness over evil. The festival is celebrated for five days.The 5th day Rang Panchmi marks the Closing day of Holi festival.



I bought a bit of paint myself and soon I was looking good...




I walked through the empty marketplace (everything was closed on account of the holiday). There were a few spotless people milling about. Most of them were Muslims, who didn't celebrate Holi but enjoyed the spectacle of it...




I came around one corner and spotted a camel pulling a wagon-load full of revelers...




As they moved slowly down the narrow streets, I could see colored paint go out like little explosions caught in the morning light...








I followed the wagon for awhile until I was blue in the face...




I stopped and talked to some kids for awhile about the holiday and then I heard drumming and singing coming around the corner...

These guys were caroling their way to each house that had a male birth in the family since the last Holi...









Even the dogs weren't safe....





I continued on down the street, watching people, getting more paint on my face and hair, and wishing everyone a "Happy Holi!"









Hehehehe...




One group of people invited me over to beat a tattoo on the drum...

And then the guy said to me, "Wait! Wait! Ahpet is coming, Ahpet does the best dance: snake dance, eagle dance."

So the guy went in to fetch Ahpet from the house and Ahpet came out and showed me his best eagle dance and snake dance while the drummers drummed...






I got it on video, but that takes to long to upload on the road. Just take my word for it: it was a really funny dance.


I slowly made my way back towards my hotel. The Indians loved to make foreigners their special targets, but were generally nice about it. I got to beat another drum...




Across from my hotel was an ancient giant tank. One guy jumped from the roof down to the water...

He was fine.

It was fun chilling and talking to people as I sat covered in paint. Eventually, I was ready for a long shower...

I went to my room and showered and looked in the mirror. I was still covered in paint. So I scrubbed with three different kinds of soaps and got most of it off. My hands, feet, around my beard, and, oddly, my chest still had some spots that, four days later, are only slowly going away.

The skin around my eyes hurt from all the soap and scrubbing. Good thing I had lotion from the Marriott on hand.

My clothes are probably ruined, I haven't even bothered trying to wash them since then.

I had a leisurely lunch on the rooftop and then went back up to the fort for some evening views...











In summary: some great experiences in a great city. A great Holi-day!

Visa India - Jodhpur på en större karta

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