Why is Jodhpur blue?

I have always considered Jodhpur as one of the most beautiful cities in India. The city's landscape had been my laptop's background photo for a few years, and to this day I feel enchanted by that place. Jodhpur is also known as Surya Nagri ("Sun City" in Hindi) due to its high temperatures, but many people around the globe call it "Blue City". When you look at pictures of Jodhpur, you can tell the reason why. But do you know why so many buildings there are blue? Let's get into it!

Why is Jodhpur blue?

First, let's get to know the city a little more. Jodhpur is the second largest city of the Indian state Rajasthan, after the capital Jaipur. According to 2024 statistics, it is home to around 1.6 million inhabitants.

In the first semester of 2023, the Indian Ministry of Tourism shared that nearly 180 million domestic tourists and about 17 million foreign ones visited Rajasthan in 2023, making it one of India's most searched states for tourism.

In India, the majority of the population is Hindu and, in Hinduism, the color blue represents the divine, the infinite and what can not be achieved/comprehended by humans. Because of that, many Hindus believe that the color wards off evil spirits and brings blessings, so they paint their houses blue, as well as acquire objects and gifts in the same color.

This mindset is linked to Lord Shiva, one of the Gods of Hinduism. The most well-known belief of why he is blue says that he drank a poison named Halahala to save the world from destruction. To prevent being harmed, he held it in his throat, which turned blue due to the poison's potency. He is known by the name Neelakantha, which means "one with the blue throat". Despite this belief, Shiva is usually depicted as a whole blue figure (not only his throat).

However, a very popular theory says that another reason why so many buildings in Jodhpur are blue is due to the Brahmin society. Since 1459, the city's neighborhoods have been the home of the Brahmin community, which according to the Indian caste system, is an upper-caste community. It is believed that they painted their houses blue in order to separate themselves from lower-caste societies. The theory states that this practice originated during the rule of Maharaja Man Singh to replicate the color of the sky, thereby symbolizing their connection to the divine.

There is another reason why many Jodhpur inhabitants paint their houses blue, and I find this one so cool. Basically, they say that the blue color makes the indoor temperatures lower. You see, the average temperature in the city is 27°C. In May and June, it can reach 35°C.

In 2024, GRRID Corps, a startup committed to disaster risk reduction & climate action, and the Confederation of Risk Reduction Professionals (CRRP India) released a research on this belief. They developed a prototype to test the temperature differences between the interior and exterior of traditional Jodhpur houses.

Contained within a tiffin box (an Indian lunchbox), the prototype was loaded with a temperature-humidity sensor, an atomic clock and a Wi-Fi module. The team visited two traditional houses to make this experiment, placing one prototype outside, and the other one, inside.

The indoor temperatures, and also the humidity, were indeed significantly lower than the outside temperatures. However, this result was also seen in the house that wasn't blue.

They found out that the indoor temperatures of a traditional house is lower than in a contemporary one. The study highlighted that while the blue color didn't contribute to the cooling effect, other architectural features such as courtyard houses, carved stone fa?ades, jharokhas (enclosed balconies), jaalis (perforated screens) and meandering streets played a significant role.?

It is important to point out that not all buildings in Jodhpur are blue, which can disappoint some tourists.

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Where to find blue houses in Jodhpur?

There are two main spots where you can find the city's famous blue houses. The first one is in the Old City. To be more specific, in the Navchowkiya neighborhood.

The second one is the East side of Mehrangarh Fort, one of Rajasthan’s most well-known historical places. You will find a street full of blue houses.

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More color-coded cities in Rajasthan

Did you know that Jodhpur is not the only color-coded city in Rajasthan? Yeah, this state is amazing. Check them out:

Jaisalmer, the Golden City

Jaisalmer received this title due to its yellowish sandstone and its most famous tourist attraction, the Jaisalmer Fort. Unlike other forts, this one has shops, hotels and residences where people live. Many of the houses and temples in the city were built of sculptured yellow sandstone.

Jaipur, the Pink City

As we already mentioned, Jaipur is the biggest city in Rajasthan, and it's the first planned city of India. Vidyadhar Bhattacharya, the architect responsible for the city, used the principles of vastu shastra (a traditional Hindu system of architecture) to create it. Pink became the city's color in 1876 when the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, visited the country, and Maharaja Ram Singh, Jaipur's governor at the time, had the entire city painted pink. It became a symbol of welcome and hospitality.