The Secret behind Blue City of India – Jodhpur

Jodhpur is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar. Jodhpur is a popular tourist destination, featuring many palaces, forts and temples, set in the stark landscape of the Thar Desert.

This “Blue City” is a mesmerizing collection of azure abodes that soothes and delights anyone that beholds it.

The city is a sea of blue houses which are widely thought to have emerged as a result of the caste system.  In the past, the city had a disproportionate number of Brahmins. Hence, they  painted their houses blue, which would differentiate them from the rest of the population.

Over the years, the rest of the population followed them, possibly because the Indigo dye that gave the walls their vivid blue color was a good defense against termites, one theory says.

But locals gave another reason for the hue. They say that  It cools down houses during the city's harsh summer. Jodhpur is also known as the Sun City  due to its perennial sunny weather all the year round.

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.

But above all, visitors aren’t likely to forget the eye-catching color coating the houses, creating a luscious blue sea in the arid Indian landscape. A view from the top of the looming Mehrangarh Fort, one of India’s largest forts from the 15th century, lets visitors overlook the bountiful, striking blue for which the city is known.