The Blue City another name famous for the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan i.e Aapno “Jodhpur” and has long been a popular destination for national and international tourists. The old town is a wonderful example of vivid colors providing a photogenic backdrop to everyday life.
Travellers journeying through the desolate landscape of the unforgiving Thar desert of Rajasthan would know when they had reached their destination “Blue City”. The sky seems to fall to the ground and everything would become a single color – blue. Jodhpur would lie before them, opening up like a blue treasure in the desert.
Jodhpur, one of the gorgeous city in India, known as the Blue city as well as the Sun City of India. Many dwellings in Jodhpur have painted a vivid blue, making the city look like the sky or sea as the hot sun beams down on the area.
Why has Jodhpur Known as Blue City?
In the city of Jodhpur, a sea of boxy indigo houses stretches for more than 10 kilometers along the walls of the historic walled old city. Most of the houses in Jodhpur’s old city are Blue-colored and some people say that the color is associated with the Brahmins – members of the priestly class of the Indian caste system. A blue pigment coating on a house used to indicate that a Brahmin dwelled there.
It is thought that Brahmins first took to coloring their houses blue (yet perhaps it should really be called indigo) to signify their domicile and to set them apart from the rest of the population.
READ Too: Umaid Bhawan Palace: Heart of Sun City – Aapno Jodhpur
A blue pigment coating on a house used to indicate that a Brahmin—the priests of the Indian caste system—dwelled there, but over time the color became a badge of identity for non-Brahmins, too.
Soon, however, the rest of the population followed suit. History does not tell us which brave non-Brahmin was the first to do it, yet it happened and since that day the people of Jodhpur have steadfastly maintained this tradition.
It’s not the only grounds behind that are said.
It’s also said that as it’s called as the Sun City because the weather remains bright and sunny all around the year, and to keep the houses cool, Blue color is used on the Houses. Blue Color helps in observance the Houses cool in the heat, which is very vital for this the Sun City of India.
And it’s also the fact that the whole city is not colored Blue, but only the equipped old city near the Mehrangarh Fort are colored Blue.
It’s also said to have insect-repelling abilities. Some thought that the color keeps the interiors cool and fends of mosquitoes. There’s also an argument that termites are the real reason. Proponents of this theory believe that, historically, termites caused significant structural damage to a large number of the buildings of Jodhpur. Residents struggled to get rid of the unwelcome guests, repelled them and discouraged their return and further damage by adding chemicals, including copper sulphate, to their standard whitewash.
Jodhpur is a fine example of an environmentally-friendly city, so no extra chemical compound is added to the color wash. Nothing but indigo, a natural dye “Neil“, is the cause of the blue tint.
Whatever is the reason, we Jodhpuries are proud of our ‘Blue City’ and our Municipal corporation “Jodhpur Nagar Nigam” is working hard from a few years back to restore the blue color of our Jodhpur, which gives it a unique and lovely name ‘Blue City‘.
The modern trappings of life go side by side with evidence that many people still live as simply as they have always done. The color of Jodhpur tells the history – and makes it legend – of a populace who shaped a paradise in the heart of the heat and sandstorms of Rajasthan.
It is likely that the ubiquitous blueness of Jodhpur is an exuberant display of human resilience against the stark Thar desert which surrounds the town. Against the bleak backdrop of the parched brown earth, the blue city exerts itself magnificently.
Aapno Jodhpur welcome all “पधारो म्हारे देश “ with feelings of “अतिथि देवो भवः” |
