Mehrangarh Fort, Fort in Jodhpur, India

Mehrangarh Fort is a fort complex in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, standing on a rocky hill about 122 m above the plains. Its walls, up to 36 m high and 21 m wide, enclose several palaces, courtyards and seven gates. The photo shows a crenellated wall with round towers above a sheer rock face, and a lower zigzag wall with bastions and a white-domed structure.

Rao Jodha, fifteenth Rathore ruler, founded Jodhpur in 1459 and moved his capital from Mandore. With Rao Nara, he laid the fort's foundation stone on Bhakurcheeria hill on 12 May 1459. Most of the present structure dates from Maharaja Jaswant Singh (1638–78). Jai Pol was built by Maharaja Man Singh in 1806, and Fateh Pol commemorates Ajit Singh's victory over the Mughals in 1707.

The name comes from the Sanskrit 'Mihir' (sun) and 'garh' (fort), becoming Mihirgarh, 'fort of the sun', for the Rathore clan's mythical descent from Surya. The fort hosts the World Sacred Spirit Festival and the Rajasthan International Folk Festival. At Loha Pol, handprints of ranis and princesses who committed sati remain on the wall.

The visit usually begins at the main gate, from where paths branch out to different courtyards and halls. A walk along the rampart offers views over the blue houses of the old town and surrounding landscape.

Handprints on one of the walls recall widows who gave themselves to fire during royal funerals. The bullet marks on the gates bear witness to attacks the fort withstood over the centuries.