Stock Photo - Early morning in Rajasthan, India, December 05, 2013. Jodhpur is second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and has long been a popular destination among international tourists. However, surprisingly few visitors know the origins of its sobriquet, ""the blue city"". The old town is a wonderful example of vivid colors providing a photogenic backdrop to everyday life. The old city is blue. Local guides say that the blue wash of the houses originally indicated the homes of the upper -caste Brahmins, custodians of holy places and the written word. Varieties of blue, from royal blue to aquamarine, form the backdrop for a theatre of color played out in the streets, defying the parched orange of the surrounding desert.