Mandore

Mandore lies north of Jodhpur, beneath a ruined fort in the Marwar country. It was an early capital of the Rathore rulers, whose memorials and temples later gave the town a continuing ceremonial importance. The old settlement occupied a position between the Aravalli approaches and the arid plains of western Rajasthan.

Rao Chunda acquired Mandore through a marriage alliance and made it his capital around the end of the fourteenth century. His grandson Rao Jodha founded Jodhpur in 1459 and moved the principal seat to its stronger rocky height. Mandore did not lose its connection with the dynasty: Rathore rulers continued to build cenotaphs here in honour of their ancestors. These memorials, with their carved stone forms, recall the town’s place in the history of Marwar.