I’m running out of superlatives to describe India’s treasures!
The staggering Mehrangarh – Jodhpur’s mighty, muscular, magnificent fort – rises imperiously from a rocky hill, which is itself 125m above Jodhpur’s old town. The fort seems to have been chiselled out of the rock so that the line where the rock finishes and the fort starts is blurred.
The fort looks and, in fact, was, impregnable. Apart from geography, many other features protected it, such as the iron spikes on giant gates to deter charging elephants. In reality, neither they nor anyone else could charge the gates because the path leading up to the gates intentionally turns sharply to stop storming enemies from building up sufficient speed to knock down the gates.
Many of the photos are of the ornate palace in the fort. Lonely Planet’s guide to India says, “The network of courtyards and halls features stone-lattice work so finely carved that it often looks more like sandalwood than sandstone”.
