I must say, when I arrived in Udaipur and wandered around the city, I call it Venice of India! Apparently Udaipur is a lake city! Udaipur was founded in 1559 by Maharana Udai Singh II as the final capital of the erstwhile Mewar kingdom, located in the fertile
circular valley-"Girwa" to the southwest of Nagda, on the Banas
River. Maharana Udai Singh II,
in the wake of 16th century decided to move his
capital to a more secure location, importance of which he had realized during
his exile at Kumbhalgadh. Ayad was flood-prone, so he chose the ridge east
of Pichola Lake to start his new capital city.
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Our hotel on Lake Pichola
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Wander around market and streets of Udaipur...
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Udaipur was founded in 1559 by Maharana Udai Singh II as the final capital of the erstwhile Mewar kingdom, located in the fertile circular valley-"Girwa" to the southwest of Nagda, on the Banas River. Maharana Udai Singh II, in the wake of 16th century decided to move his capital to a more secure location, importance of which he had realized during his exile at Kumbhalgadh. Ayad was flood-prone, so he chose the ridge east of Pichola Lake to start his new capital city, where he came upon a hermit while hunting in the foothills of the Aravalli Range. The hermit blessed the king and asked him to build a palace on the spot, assuring him it would be well protected. Udai Singh II consequently established a residence on the site.
City Palace, Udaipur, is a palace complex in Udaipur, in
the Indian state Rajasthan. It was built over a period of nearly 400 years
being contributed by several kings of the dynasty, starting by the Maharana
Udai Singh II as the capital of the Sisodia Rajput clan in 1559, after he moved
from Chittor. It is located on the east bank of the Lake Pichola and has
several palaces built within its complex.
The City Palace in Udaipur was built in a flamboyant
style and is considered the largest of its type in Rajasthan, a fusion of the
Rajasthani and Mughal architectural styles, and was built on a hill top that
gives a panoramic view of the city and its surrounding, including several
historic monuments such as the Lake Palace in Lake Pichola, the Jag Mandir on
another island in the lake, the Jagdish Temple close to the palace, the Monsoon
Palace on top of an overlooking hillock nearby and the Neemach Mata temple.
These structures are linked to the filming of the James Bond movie Octopussy,
which features the Lake Palace and the Monsoon Palace.
The silver furniture...
My big fat Indian wedding, apparently you can rent the palace for your wedding, I just wonder how much will it cost? OR I shouldn't ask!
These flowers are hand-weaved!
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These note books are hand made and to die for! I think I bought over a dozen of them...
Perfect as gifts!
The market outside the palace and the small shops around it just to die for! I have so many things purchased here... I regret I didn't buy more! But its a reason to come back! :)
The lake palace
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View of the City Palace
We wander again at the evening just before sunset and heading to Museum Bagore Ki Haveli.
And we are back to the museum at the evening for the light, sound and dance performance!
Exciting!
Shri Amarchand Badwa, who was the Prime Minister of Mewar from 1751-1778 built this haveli. Following the death of Amarchand, the edifice came under the domain of the Mewari Royal Family and Bagore-ki-Haveli was occupied by Nath Singh, a relative of the then maharana. In 1878, the natural father of Sajjan Singh, Maharaj Shakti Singh of Bagore extended the haveli and built the triple-arched gateway, and the property remained in the possession of Mewar State until 1947. After Independence, the Government of Rajasthan used the buildings for housing Government employees, but, as with other national properties, where there was nobody with a vested interest in the standards of maintenance, damage and neglect went unchecked, and for almost forty years, the haveli’s condition deteriorated to a deplorable extent. The Government was eventually persuaded to relinquish their hold on the haveli and in 1986; it was handed over to the West Zone Cultural Centre.
Anything with light and music, is just magical!
And the folk dance, were just incredible...
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Now... the boat ride. A boat tour around on the Pichola Lake
The bathing ghat
Lake Pichola hotel
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The Oberoi Udaivillas link here
The place is to die for! But seriously, I can't afford it!
Jag Mandir is a palace built on an island in the Lake
Pichola. It is also called the "Lake Garden Palace". Its construction is
credited to three Maharanas of the Sisodia Rajputs of Mewar kingdom. The
construction of the palace was started in 1551 by Maharana Amar Singh,
continued by Maharana Karan Singh (1620–1628) and finally completed by Maharana
Jagat Singh I (1628–1652). It is named as "Jagat Mandir" in honour of
the last named Maharana Jagat Singh. The royal family used the palace as a
summer resort and pleasure palace for holding parties.
Nowadays it is a high end restaurant -look at the elephant jetties!
[this image of elephant jetty is not mine, I Google this one]
off to the next city and the last train ride ...
thank you all for viewing the post and reading the bits...
xxx
