Mandor Gardens

Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Mandor is an ancient regional capital just 9km north of Jodhpur. Rao Jodha moved the capital to Jodhpur in the 15th century, and by the 17th century Mandor had become a royal park which was dedicated to funerary memorials (cenotaphs) of the Jodhpur rulers.

In particular, the "temples" of Mandor, including those seen in this photo, are not temples per se. Rather, they are highly elaborated cenotaphs in temple form. They are Hindu (the religion of most of Rajasthan), and date from the 17th and 18th centuries.

In this photo, The right cenotaph (mostly hidden behind a tree) belongs to Jaswant Singh, 1638 - 1678. The left cenotaph belongs to Ajit Singh, who died in 1763.