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Mehrangarh Fort

On our visit to Jodhpur, one of our first sites to explore will be the majestic Mehrangarh Fort, which rises above the “Blue City” and is one of the largest and most famous forts in India. As impressive as it is, as a well-preserved heritage structure, there’s so much more to discover inside. The fort has been privately restored and its museum has an outstanding display of royal memorabilia, including about 15,000 items from Maharaja Gaj Singh II’s personal collection.
The meaning of the word Mehrangarh? Mihir (Sanskrit) means sun or Sun-deity and garh (Sanskrit) means fort. Thus the translation Sun-fort. Mihirgarh was later changed to Mehrangarh. The Sun-deity was the chief deity of the Rathore dynasty. Though the fortress was originally started in 1459 by Rao Jodha, founder of Jodhpur, most of the fort which stands today dates from the period of Maharaja Jaswant Singh (1638–78).