Udaipur is Rajasthan’s Lake City, but it could also be called Palace City for its many charming, historical palaces and Havelis within Old Town. It’s a great place to spend a few days, soaking in the history. Let’s explore Udaipur together.
Old Town
Udaipur’s Old town is a maze of narrow streets that haphazardly climb up and down the small hills around its main buildings, City Palace and Jagdish Temple. Not much of the old city wall stands, but there are a few gates that let you know the limits of Old Town.
Inside the gates, the tight streets are filled with heritage buildings, many dating back to the 1600s. Some have been well maintained and are in excellent condition, others are in disrepair. No matter their condition, all are being used today as homes, shops and dingy cafes.
As you move closer to the palace, the old buildings are used for tourist-friendly restaurants and hotels. It’s a lively area with a lot of character. You can see though, from the electrical wiring, why we had frequent blackouts in India.
City Palace
Set beside the large, but shallow man-made Lake Pichola, City Palace was first built in in the 1600s. Many additions were built on to it over the centuries by generations of Maharajas (kings). Today it’s a stunning building with elaborate cupolas, towers, turrets and, balconies. The design details include stained glass, colourful tiles and detailed carvings.
The palace is entered through three large gates which take you past lovely garden courtyards. From the outside, the elegant balconies up on the palace walls hint to the extravagance you’ll see once inside.
At the side of one entrance are eight marble arches. They represent the eight Maharajas who donated their weight in gold or silver to the citizens of Udaipur during their reign.
As we walked through the decorated gates and courtyards we were surprised at how busy the area was. There were a lot of street scenes you wouldn’t expect to find inside a palace museum.
Toran Pol is the final colourful gate that leads to the Palace’s interior. It has painting of Surya, the sun god, on the top.
Inside the gates, the first palace rooms you enter, are finished in white marble and are decorated with incredibly detailed carved doorways and window frames. Inside those frames are colourful stained glass which is common in Rajasthan.
As you walk through the palace, you’ll see many rooms that are colourfully tiled or brightly painted in blue, green or orange. We tried to imagine living in such a decadent place.
Throughout the large palace there are many open-air courtyards, covered walkways and pavilions. In the middle of the palace you’ll find a gorgeous example. Badi Mahal (Garden Palace) is an enclosed space with large trees and marble benches that make it a tranquil spot. Surrounding it is a covered walkway with several pretty chhatris and balconies.
Laxmi Chowk (courtyard) is another large courtyard with elegant moldings on the eaves of the covered walkway. In the middle is a gorgeous white pavilion with a fancy domed roof. A room just off Laxmi Chowk has paintings of the previous ruling Maharajas, who all had fantastic, fashionable beards.
Throughout the palace there are countless elaborate windows and pretty balconies offering great views of the sprawling city on one side and the lake on the other. From these courtyards we could see Lake Palace ‘floating’ in Lake Pichola below.
City Palace is a popular tourist site. When we were visiting, there were many Indian tourists also sightseeing. This was early in the selfie-taking trend and these tourists seemed to have latched onto it whole heartedly. Groups of Indian tourists would literally each take 20-50 selfies, at every possible location. They would take over an area, so that others couldn’t even get close to the attraction. We often had to wait and wait and wait to ensure sure our pictures did not include these selfie takers.
Palaces and Havelis
Udaipur is home to many other historical Palaces and Havelis (Rajasthani mansions) that have recently been converted into hotels. Beside City Palace is the 17th century Fateh Prakash Palace Hotel with large turrets and majestic domes. The Maharaja’s family still lives in a part of this palace. Its lakeside location adds to its wonderful setting.
Further down Shiv Niwas and Jagat Niwas Palaces have many elaborate windows and distinctive cupolas. Beside the latter is a lovely garden on the side of the lake. From the garden you can see Lake Palace. It was built in the middle of Lake Pichola and has the appearance that of floating on the water.
Bagore-ki-Haveli has a triple arched entryway allowing access to the lake. From the lake you can see more of these elegant havelis as well as City Palace built along the lakeshore. Havelis are traditional, ornately decorated mansions, typical in Rajasthan.
Kotra Haveli Hotel
After 18 months on the road, we felt we needed a bit of luxury, so we booked a room at the historical Kotra Haveli Hotel. The inner courtyard of our hotel is gorgeous with white pillars, arched doorways and carved windows frames. Our room had a beautiful 4-poster bed and marble floors.
The best part was the view of City Palace from the rooftop restaurant. It is the best view in Udaipur.
Jagdish Temple
Beside City Palace, atop a different knoll, is the 17th century Jagdish Temple. The tall towers are plastered with carvings of Hindu gods, people and animals. The temple is dedicated to Jagannath, an incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu. There were quite a few beggars at the back of this temple which is something we haven’t seen at a temple in a while.
Monsoon Palace
A few kilometres outside town is the hilltop Monsoon Palace. It was built in the 19th century as an astronomical site and for the Maharaja to watch the monsoon clouds. Today, the building is bare and has little of interest to the visitor. The only reason to visit is for the view of the surrounding, dry Aravalli Hills and Udaipur far below. For a great ending to our day, we watched a playful troupe of Grey Langur monkeys on the trees outside of Monsoon Palace.
To read more of our adventures in India, click here.
Coming up next: Jaisalmer – A Sandcastle In The Desert
For extra pics from this trip go to Gallery/Western India. For extra pictures from other blogs go to Gallery at monkeystale.ca
To read about more of our adventures go to Destinations.
If you like what you read, please comment or share it using the links below.
We'd love to hear from you, please leave a comment.