Things To Do in Jodhpur

Having visited the fort and Umaid Bhawan Palace, there's no reason to overextend yourself, especially given the dusty heat. If you're here for a few days you may opt to include a trip to Mandore, which lies 9km (5 1/2 miles) north of the Old City. The previous capital of Marwar (not to be confused with Mewar, the princely state of Udaipur), Mandore has as its principal attractions today gardens (in dire need of attention) in which lie the templelike cenotaphs built to honor the Rathore rulers before final rites were moved to Jaswant Thada. The largest and grandest of the red-sandstone structures was also the last to be built here; it commemorates the life of Maharaja Dhiraj Ajit Singh, who died in 1763. Beyond, in a totally separate section (pious to the end), is a group of smaller cenotaphs, built to commemorate the female counterparts. Opposite the weird but ultimately missable museum is the Hall of Heroes, a collection of 18th-century deities and Rajput heroes carved out of a rock wall. If you haven't tired of temples by now, you can move on to visit the Hindu and Jain temples at Osian, 65km (40 miles) north of Jodhpur. You first come across the Vishnu and Harihara temples, which were built between the 8th and 9th centuries, but more impressive (or at least still alive with worship) are Sacchiya Mata (12th c.) and Mahavira Jain temples (8th and 10th c.). Virtually every hotel and agent in town arranges village safaris, in which you are taken into the arid surrounds to make contact with the rural Bishnoi people, sample their food, and learn about their traditional remedies and crafts; expect to pay from Rs 1,500 for two people for a 5-hour trip that should include some wildlife sightings. If you're curious, ask your operator or hotel if you can also see a traditional opium tea drinking ceremony, which forms part of the daily rituals of village life. You can arrange these safaris through Travel Plan or the RTDC at the tourist office, but you'll save yourself much effort by asking your hotel to make all arrangements.

Eighteenth-Century Tree Huggers

Traveling on the road to or from Jodhpur, you will no doubt come across black buck, a delicate antelope with spiraling horns, and Khejri, the tough, desert-surviving trees that provide shelter and sustenance for the desert tribes and the black buck. Both animal and tree are sacred to the Bishnoi tribes, so much so that when an 18th-century Jodhpur ruler sent his army out to clear Khejri trees to make way for a new road, the Bishnoi women clung to the trees in protest -- 363 women died with their arms wrapped around their beloved Khejris before the Jodhpur king intervened. You can still visit the Bishnoi on "village safaris" offered by just about every hotel and guesthouse in town.