Brahmapuri- the blue settlement

Jodhpur, the second largest city of Rajasthan, is a cynosure for tourists from all over the world. It lies on
the eastern fringes of the Thar desert. It's prominence lies in it's rich history of royalty and architectural
grandeur. It has been known as 'The Blue City" of India for decades now, owing to the blue houses in the
old parts of the town better known as Brahmapuri.

Brahmapuri, the azure expanse sprawling at the foot of the hill over which the majestic Mehrangarh fort
rests, traces it's history to the period of early Rajputana reign. The blue colour comes from the
households with walls painted in blue. While the real intention that commenced this age old practice is
wrangling, people still continue to follow it as an inherited tradition.

The blue town amidst a desert in its context is metaphorical to water in a parched wilderness, a symbol
of hope and human resilience against adversities brought about by the nature. With time the city of
Jodhpur grew extensively and Brahmapuri became just a part of the whole.

HISTORY

Legend says the land was cursed with a heat and thirst by a hermit, consequently droughts started
occuring every four years. So as a respite from the deadly heat the households started to paint their
houses blue to keep the structures cool. There's no clear evidence addressing questions about the
circumstances that led to people painting their residences blue. As a result various stories are prevalent
amongst the locals.

The most widespread theory says that the monochrome has to do with the priestly caste i.e. the
Brahmins. They were believed to be aide to the kings and assisted in taking important administrative
decisions, and hence the royalty directed them to settle at the foot of the hill of Mehrangarh fort. This
led to the formation of the Brahmapuri settlement. Brahmins started whitewashing their houses with a
tint of indigo, apparently, to signify their domicile and set them apart from the rest of the population.
This was blindly followed by the rest of the population thenceforth and became a local tradition.

Another popular conjecture suggests that termites might have been the real reason behind doing so. It is
said that termites used to be a huge nuisance in the city at some point in the history. They attacked and
caused severe damage to walls of houses and other significant buildings. To avert further structural
damages caused by these pervasive creatures the residents took to whitewashing their houses with
certain chemical additives such as copper sulphate. This, supposedly, helped repel the insects and forbid
their return. Some people also believe that it was due to the fact that blue colour helps fend off
mosquitoes.

ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

· Brahmapuri lies within the fort city, the gates to which are always open and are a part of the
street.
· The most remarkable feature of the settlement are the extremely narrow lanes flanked on both
sides by one or two storey houses.

· All roads of Brahmapuri lead to a temple.

· The primary lane runs north-south and slopes steeply downwards to the fort and ends at the
twin lakes.

· Due to severe dry spell in these regions early on, the community made a provision of two man-
made lakes namely Roop Sagar and Padam sagar. The lakes are important cooling elements and
the chief source of water in the area.

· The water stored in these two lakes was supplied to the rest of the settlement and was
transported merely on the principle of difference in water pressure.

· There was a secret route, seemingly, from the lakes that directly led to the palace of the kings. It
is said that these routes were later sealed so that no marauder could jimmy his way to the
treasures of the Rajputs.

· Only a few houses are distinguishable due to the intricate bracket work on their exterior facade.
These were the homes of the slightly superior Brahmins who assisted the king in the
administration.

· The plinth is unusually high so as to prevent the reflected radiation from the earth to glare into
the interiors.

· The stone carving is dainty. It helps increase the surface area of the stone so that more heat is
reflected to the exterior and less heat is absorbed by the walls and floor.

· Murky interiors and gloomy courtyards are prevalent in the houses. These Dim lit interiors help
to keep the harsh and galring sun mild.