Parked on a rocky cliff 400 feet above Jodhpur’s skyline is the magnificent 15th century Meherangarh Fort, the city’s crowning glory and the biggest tourist attraction. Perhaps because it is managed by a private museum trust in the hands of professionals, Meherangarh is a model of cleanliness, efficiency and judicious restoration. There is plenty of organised parking for tourist coaches, no lurking touts and vendors, orderly queues at the ticket counters, clean toilets, a pleasant cafe and excellent museum shop.
On a recent morning, the polite, uniformed staff at the information counter suggested that I try out their audio guide — available in eight languages, including Gujarati and Chinese — and for Rs 200, this turned out to be the best bargain I have had in a historic monument in India. The hand-held console was uncomplicated and one could easily pace one’s walk through some 20 locations of the fort’s many-tiered gateways, courtyards, palaces, temples and display galleries filed with splendid treasures. The commentary was lucidly written and narrated with just the right number of dramatic flourishes and quotes; if one wished for more information, there were enough resting points to listen to more advanced narratives on subjects as varied as Mughal-Rajput alliances, the uses of opium and the art of miniature painting.
There must have been more than a thousand visitors the morning I was there (including large groups of foreign tourists, parties of schoolchildren and flocks of villagers) but none of the jostling, noise, overflowing municipal garbage bins or hectoring and grubby guides that give you a headache and hasten your departure from the ancient glories of India. In fact, there were enough pools of activity other than guides to engage the visitor’s interest — an exhibition on dhurrie-weaving, for example, or a demonstration of how to tie a Marwari turban — that sent the foreigners into camera-clicking frenzy and had the schoolchildren begging for more.
Thirty years ago, Meherangarh Fort was a neglected relic but an enlightened maharaja has turned it into a showpiece of conservation, civic pride and a profitable financial venture. On my recent trip to Jodhpur, I came across another courageous example of what innovative enterprise can do to pull back inner cities from the clutches of chaos and ruin. This is the opening of Raas, Rajasthan’s first deluxe boutique hotel in the bustling heart of the old walled city. This is not your average haveli-heritage type property with peeling frescoes, creaking doors and ice-cold bathrooms but a confident architectural synthesis of the old and the new. It is an idea as audacious as someone creating an oasis of luxury and style in the shadow of the Jama Masjid in Delhi.
A couple of years ago, two Jodhpur brothers, Dhananajaya and Nikhilendra Singh, found a decrepit series of 18th century buildings set in an acre-and-a half compound with a fabulous view of Meherangarh. The elderly Thakur of Raas wanted to sell but there were 60 tenants on the property. Gradually they got them out and set about cleaning the structures of decades of lime plaster and ad hoc extensions to reveal the rose-red hues of the local sandstone. They found two British investors for their project and engaged Delhi-based architect Ambrish Arora and his associate Rajiv Majumdar. It helped that the four men were about 40 with a similar outlook. After going through dozens of options, they decided to build two modern blocks with 29 rooms and suites. Using the same sandstone and local artisans but using a completely contemporary design vocabulary — stone jaalis in geometric design, blue lime wash to merge with the colour of the Blue City, a retake on Mughal terrace gardens set round an infinity pool — the architects and owners have created a graceful fusion of traditional techniques and modern comfort.
The Raas experiment has become the focus of regenerating old Jodhpur, with its ancient step-wells and water bodies. If the old inner cities of Athens and Marrakesh have undergone major revivals, a new beginning in Jodhpur can show the way in India.
