A king, a clock and a market
The king: Maharaja Sardar Singh ruled Marwar from 1895 to 1911.
His inheritance: a state his father, Jaswant Singh II, had begun to modernise with railways, courts and schools. He carried the work on.
An imperial fashion: a public clock tower was the symbol of a modern city across the British Empire, and princely capitals from Lucknow to Hyderabad were building them.
- Built
- Around 1910
- Built by
- Maharaja Sardar Singh, who ruled 1895 to 1911
- Open
- An open market, the tower is not usually open to climb
- Allow
- One to two hours
- Best time
- The last hour of daylight and early evening
- Photography
- Ask before photographing people, especially women
- Getting there
- Leave the car at the old city's edge, then walk or take an auto-rickshaw
- The date: Sardar Singh's tower rose at the heart of the old city, usually dated to around 1910.
- The clockwork: Jodhpur tradition says it was ordered from an English maker of great public clocks. Most families say the makers of Big Ben, a story we enjoy and cannot prove.
- Sardar Market: at the same time the open ground around it became a market named after the king.
- Where lanes meet: it became the meeting point of the old city, where the lanes from the walled town's gates come together.
- Who traded: farmers with village vegetables, traders from Pali and Barmer with cloth, and spice merchants with sacks and tins. More than a century later it works the same way.
- The city's timekeeper: for decades the only reliable clock, when few people owned a watch. Shops opened and shut by it, and parents sent children home when it struck.
- Directions by it: old Jodhpur people still say two lanes past the Ghanta Ghar, turn at the sweet shop.
- One reign, two halves: the same king commissioned Jaswant Thada for his father.
The tower, looked at properly
The lower levels: carved balconies and jharokhas, the projecting windows with little stone canopies seen all over the old city.
European faces: higher up, the clock faces sit inside curved pediments with Roman numerals.
A Rajput top: an open pavilion of arches and pillars, very like a chhatri, carries a curved dome.
- Stone
- Local red sandstone, as at Mehrangarh
- Stages
- Five, from a broad square base
- Clock faces
- Roman numerals in curved pediments
- Crown
- An open, chhatri-like pavilion and dome
- Inside
- A spiral stair to the clockwork
- A roundabout: the base is ringed by a low stone railing, and the tower stands in the middle of the traffic.
- Look closely: the carving on the lower balconies is surprisingly delicate for a public building.
- A century of weather: the sandstone has darkened and softened under dust and monsoon rain.
- From below only: the spiral stair leads to the clockwork chamber, but the tower is not usually open as a visit.
- The best view: from above. Several old houses and guesthouses around the market have rooftop terraces.
- The whole city in one frame: the tower, Mehrangarh on its cliff behind, and the dome of Umaid Bhawan on the far horizon.
Where the old city's roads meet
Named for their roads: each gate took the name of the town its road led to.
Caravans: camels and bullock carts came in through the gates carrying salt, wool, grain and cloth.
- Old city wall
- About ten kilometres long
- Sojati Gate
- The road to Sojat
- Jalori Gate
- The road to Jalore
- Nagori Gate
- The road to Nagaur
- Merti Gate
- The road to Merta
- A ready-made square: the open ground below the fort was where they met. Sardar Singh formalised a trading square that already existed.
- Gates as neighbourhoods: much of the wall has gone, but the gates still name their quarters and bazaars.
- Towards Sojati Gate: shops selling wedding clothes and turbans.
- Towards the fort: the lanes climb into the blue houses of Brahmpuri and Navchokiya.
- Walk the old roads: our heritage walks follow them.
- Why blue: our journal piece on why Jodhpur is blue explains the houses above the market.
Walking the market, stall by stall
The vegetable sellers
Early in the day: pyramids of tomatoes, coriander, cauliflower and the long pale green chillies used for mirchi bada.
- Bargaining: women do it hard and fast.
- Winter: heaps of carrots and fresh green peas.
- Hot months: look for kachri, the small wild desert melon Marwari cooks dry and use to tenderise meat and sour curries.
The spice lane
The sacks: red chilli, cumin, coriander seed, turmeric and fennel. The air catches in your throat.
- Mathania chillies: from a village outside the city whose name is known across India.
- Desert produce: ker berries, sangri beans and kumat seeds, the heart of Marwari cooking. Read about ker sangri.
The cloth and tie-dye shops
Bandhani: cloth tied in thousands of tiny knots and dyed, hanging in red, saffron and green.
- Leheriya: the wave-patterned dye of the monsoon.
- Safas: cotton lengths long enough to wrap a Marwari turban.
- Real or printed: our guide to leheriya and bandhani tells hand-tied from printed.
The bangle sellers
The display: glass, lac and plastic bangles glittering on wooden poles.
- Lac bangles: a Rajasthani speciality of tree resin, coloured and pressed with glass and stones.
- One squeeze: the sellers size your wrist with a single practised squeeze.
- Who wears them: married women in Marwar, at weddings and festivals. A set is a favourite small gift.
Brass, steel and the household lanes
- What a household needs: steel tiffin boxes, brass lamps, clay water pots, rope, brooms and pickling jars.
- Honest: not glamorous, and the truest picture of the old city's daily life.
Silver and mojaris
Silver: small jewellers sell old-style anklets, toe rings and pendants.
- Mojaris: a few stalls sell the embroidered leather slippers of Rajasthan.
- Judge quality: it varies a great deal. See our Rajasthani jewellery guide and our piece on mojari shoes.
What to eat around the clock tower
Our rule for street food is the same everywhere in Rajasthan: eat where the queue is longest and the oil hottest, eat things cooked in front of you, and skip anything that has been sitting. Our food of Jodhpur guide covers the city, and our health and safety page helps delicate stomachs.
- Signature
- Mirchi bada, morning or dusk
- Lassi
- Shri Mishrilal Hotel
- Sweet
- Mawa kachori, one between two
- Evening
- Omelettes and egg sandwiches
Mirchi bada
The city's signature: a fat green chilli, mild rather than fierce, stuffed with spiced potato, dipped in gram-flour batter and fried until it blisters.
- When: straight from the pan, ideally in the morning or at dusk, when the oil is fresh and the queue long.
- How: with a squeeze of lime and a little chutney.
Pyaaz kachori and mawa kachori
Pyaaz kachori: a flaky pastry filled with spiced onion. Every Jodhpur family has a view on who makes the best.
- Mawa kachori: its sweet cousin, filled with reduced milk and dried fruit, fried and dipped in syrup. One between two is plenty.
- The history: our pyaaz kachori guide.
Makhaniya lassi
What it is: thick, sweet, saffron-scented yoghurt under a lid of cream and butter.
- Where: Shri Mishrilal Hotel, at the clock tower, pouring it for generations. The name every Jodhpur family gives you.
- When: before noon or in the early evening. Don't plan a big dinner straight after.
Chai, and the egg stalls
Cutting chai: half a glass, poured all day at small tea stalls.
- Egg stalls: in the evening a few around the square are famous for omelettes and egg sandwiches on a big griddle, an unexpected Jodhpur tradition loved by students and families.
- The argument: several claim to be the original, and arguing about which is half the fun.
Shopping honestly in Sardar Market
Buy what locals buy: spices, bandhani dupattas, safas, lac bangles, steel and brass kitchenware and simple silver. Prices are usually fair.
Payments: most shops take UPI phone payments and many take cards. Carry small notes for street food and tips.
- Best buys
- Spices, bandhani, safas, lac bangles, kitchenware
- Bargain on
- Cloth and jewellery, gently
- Don't bargain on
- Food or vegetables
- Paying
- UPI and often cards, small notes for food
- Beware the friendly stranger: anyone in the square offering a special shop, a cousin's emporium or a famous spice merchant.
- Imitators: Jodhpur has several well-known spice shops, each with copies using a similar name or a sign that reads original.
- Your protection: a guide who works for you, not the shop.
- Our rule: we never take commissions, and our guides take you to the stalls their own families use. Our shopping guide explains how we work.
- Bigger purchases: for carpets, antique-style furniture or fine textiles, the market is the wrong place.
- Go to makers instead: the furniture warehouses on the city's edge, the durrie weavers of Salawas and a few specialist shops. See our crafts experience.
The merchants of Marwar
Merchants and warriors: Marwar has always been both.
Caravans and kings: its Jain and Hindu trading communities ran the caravan routes across the Thar and financed kings.
Across India: in the nineteenth century they spread out, setting up firms from Assam to Bombay.
- The local end: many shops around the clock tower have been run by one family for three or four generations, with the owner's father or grandfather watching from behind the counter.
- Tea first: it arrives before business.
- Prices: a conversation rather than a label.
- Loyalty: a good customer is remembered, and a regular is given credit.
- In a cloth shop: expect twenty pieces you did not ask to see, and a shopkeeper perfectly happy if you leave without buying, as long as you stayed for tea.
- Meet the makers: our piece on the artisans we work with.
- Why families, not emporiums: our page on sustainable travel.
The rhythm of the day
Early morning
- Just after sunrise: vegetable sellers set up, cows wander the stalls for scraps and the first kachoris come out of the oil.
- Best for: photographs and watching the city wake, in soft light and a half-empty square.
Late morning
- Full swing: cloth and spice shops open fully, shoppers arrive and the noise rises.
- Good for: shopping if you don't mind crowds, and the right time for lassi.
Afternoon
- The slow hours: shopkeepers nap on their counters and the square thins out.
- Our habit: outside winter, we spend these hours back at the hotel.
The last hour of light
- Our favourite hour: families come out, the frying begins again, the fort turns gold then red, and the tower's lights come on.
- Where to watch: a rooftop, with a cup of chai.
After dark
Still busy: stalls lit by bare bulbs, lively and generally relaxed.
- What to eat: omelettes and a last sweet.
- More bazaars: our night markets page covers evening markets across Rajasthan.
Festivals around the Ghanta Ghar
Before Diwali: clay lamps, sweets, new clothes and strings of marigold, with shops lit late into the night. The best time of year to see Jodhpur shopping.
Gangaur: in spring, after Holi, the women of the old city worship Gauri.
- Diwali
- October or November
- Gangaur
- Spring, after Holi
- Dhinga Gavar
- Follows Gangaur, late at night
- Marwar Festival
- October
- Dhinga Gavar: Jodhpur's own festival follows, when women walk the lanes in costume late at night. The streets around the market are on the route.
- Holi: the old city plays hard. Watch from a rooftop rather than walk the market in good clothes.
- October crowds: during the Marwar Festival and the folk festival at Mehrangarh, the bazaar fills with visitors from across India.
- What's on when: our Jodhpur month-by-month guide.
How long to allow
About an hour: our guides' loop through the vegetable sellers, the spice lane, the cloth and bangle shops and the household lanes, with a mirchi bada on the way.
Two hours: add a makhaniya lassi or a cup of chai on a rooftop, and stay for the last hour of light as the tower's lights come on.
- Longer: if you plan to shop seriously for bandhani, safas or silver, and to sit for tea in a cloth shop while twenty pieces are unrolled.
- A whole morning: walk down from Mehrangarh through Brahmpuri, stop at Toorji ka Jhalra, and arrive at the market in time for lunch.
- Festival days: allow extra time before Diwali and during the October festivals, when the lanes are at their busiest.
How to visit well
No car: the lanes around the market are too narrow and crowded.
Watch your step: the ground is uneven, shared with cows, scooters and the occasional open drain.
- Arrive
- On foot or by auto-rickshaw
- Shoes
- Comfortable and closed
- Valuables
- Front pocket or zipped bag
- Greeting
- Khamma ghani
- Crowds are crowds: pickpocketing is not common, but keep phone and wallet secure.
- Photographing people: ask first, especially women. Most shopkeepers are delighted to pose, and a greeting helps. Khamma ghani is the Marwari hello.
- Bargain kindly: gently and with a smile on cloth and jewellery. Do not haggle over a glass of chai or a vegetable seller's price.
- Time: one to two hours, and longer to shop seriously.
- Limited mobility: the square is flat but crowded. Our guide can find a rooftop or a shop with a seat and bring the market to you.
What most visitors miss
The balconies: the carving on the tower's lower stages, finer than it looks from across the square.
A rooftop at dusk: the tower, the fort and Umaid Bhawan in one frame.
- The wholesale lanes: behind the spice shops, where merchants trade sacks rather than packets.
- Bandhani tiers: in the side lanes, women pinching cloth into knots with a fingernail grown long for the purpose.
- Nai Sarak: the old road south from the market, with its sweet shops, including the long-established Janta Sweet Home.
- Uphill to the stepwell: ten minutes through the lanes to Toorji ka Jhalra.
Who will love it, and who won't
Street-life lovers: if you enjoy food, colour and conversation.
Photographers: the faces and the light at dusk.
- Cooks: the spice lane.
- Families: older children usually enjoy it, especially with a mirchi bada in hand.
- One evening only: this is where we would spend it.
- Wary of crowds: come early, when the square is half empty, or watch from a rooftop at dusk with tea. You see almost everything from up there.
- Dip in: go down for ten minutes with our guide when you feel like it.
What to pair it with
Our things to do in Jodhpur and Jodhpur itinerary guides fit the market into a longer stay.
- Toorji ka Jhalra
- Ten minutes' walk
- Mehrangarh
- Above, via the blue lanes
- Nai Sarak
- Just south
- Jaswant Thada
- On the ridge
Toorji ka Jhalra, ten minutes away
- The stepwell: restored, eighteenth-century, a short walk from the market.
- When: in the morning, or on the way down to the tower in the late afternoon.
Mehrangarh and the blue lanes
- The classic morning: a guided walk from the fort down through Brahmpuri brings you out close to the market.
A heritage walk
- Local guides: ours grew up in the old city.
- The route: starting or ending at the tower, through the havelis, temples and workshops of the walled town.
Where to stay within walking distance
RAAS Jodhpur
- Where: a few minutes' walk from the clock tower and the stepwell, below the walls of Mehrangarh.
- Who for: guests who want to live in the old city rather than visit it.
Heritage havelis inside the walls
- Small guesthouses: a handful of family havelis, with rooftop views of the tower and fort.
- Choose carefully: they vary, and we recommend only those we know well. See our heritage havelis page.
The palace hotels
- A short drive: Umaid Bhawan Palace and Ajit Bhawan.
- Compare them all: our luxury hotels in Jodhpur guide.
