Most of Jodhpur's minibuses head for the royal cenotaphs, or dewals, of the maharajas in the fertile gardens 9km north of the city at Mandor, the capital of the Parihar Rajputs between the sixth and fourteenth centuries.

The Parihars were ousted when the Rathore Rao Chauhan established the seat of government for his new kingdom at Mandor in 1381, and little remains of their fortified city. The dark red sandstone chhatris, memorials to Jodhpur's rulers, grew in size and grandeur as the Rathore kingdom prospered, culminating with the last and largest, that of Maharaja Dhiraj Ajit Singh (died 1763).

It is Shaivite in style, fronted by a balustrade porch and topped with a towering roof crowned with four faces of Shiva. By the chhatris, opposite a rather dull museum, you'll find the Hall of Heroes, a strange display of life-sized gods and Rajput fighters that were hewn out of the rock face early in the eighteenth century.
 

A path leads over the hill behind the gardens to another set of cenotaphs, seemingly neglected on a sandy slope among twisted cacti. These commemorate the ranis of Jodhpur and, though smaller, are more stately than those of the men, with exquisitely detailed carving on the pillars and domed roofs
 

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