20th February: Visiting the palaces of Udaipur

A local guide hired by John's parents met us at the hotel in the morning and took us to Jagdish temple, built by Maharana Jagat Singh in the 17th century. The temple boasted great carvings on the outside, but the most interesting part was the celebration going on inside the temple. People were singing and dancing in front of Vishnu's statue, a very friendly and welcoming kind of worship.

Climbing the steps up to the temple

View of the Temple

Rajasthani women circumambulating the temple

A Sadhu seated beside the temple

We then headed to the City Palace a hundred metres or so down the road. It was our fourth palace in Rajasthan and the complex as a whole was not quite as impressive as the harmonious palaces in Jodhpur and Jaipur. Nevertheless, there were a few well-preserved rooms displaying fine work, such as miniature paintings, tiles, and mirrors. We also enjoyed the room dedicated to the battle of Haldigathi, during which Maharana Pratap Singh Mewar, a Hindu ruler. resisted the might of the Mughal army of Akbar (whom we met in Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri). The room is dominated by a model of Chetak, Maharana Pratap's horse, who managed to carry his master to safety before succumbing to a fatal wound.  The best feature of the palace was its view over Lake Pichola and the Lake Palace.

Facade of the City Palace

76th and current custodian of the House of Mewar

Entrance to the palace

Model of Chetak, the favourite horse of Pratap Singh Mewar

Courtyard inside the palace (Bari Mahal)

Manak (Ruby) Mahal

The Maharana and Rajputs playing polo

Room where the Maharana used to relax

Top of a courtyard

Feeling slightly outdone in the local dress

Elephant fight

An inviting swing inside the palace

Posing in the blue room

View from the City Palace across

Looking out the other way over the city

We then headed towards the jetty just outside of the palace to take a boat around the lake. This gave us the opportunity to see the shiny modern palace, the current residence of the Maharana, and the beautiful car parked outside.

From the jetty we took a boat on Lake Pichola, which is an artificial lake created in the 16th century to meet the city's drinking water and irrigation needs. The boat first took us along the ghats where women were washing their colourful clothes. We then passed the Jag Niwas or Lake Palace, which has been converted into a luxury hotel and unfortunately cannot be accessed unless you are either a resident or James Bond (this is where the movie Octopussy was filmed). We were allowed to visit the other island, where the Jag Mandir Palace stood. We had a quick walk around the main courtyard and the gardens, which gave us enough time to feel that this would also be a great place to stay.

Washing by the ghats

View of the Lake Palace

View of the City Palace

View from Jag Mandir

The boat ride was really smooth and it was great to feel the breeze softening the heat outside. It was then time for lunch and the guide told us that he knew a great place with a beautiful view over gardens. Given the beauty of the city we had quite high expectations and were very disappointed when we saw that the restaurant in question consisted of a few tables on a square lawn and a buffet under a tent, right by the road. I think that even if he had not promised us a restaurant within a beautiful garden we probably would not have stayed there. We politely declined his suggestion and asked him if he knew another place we could go that did have a nice view, if possible by the Fateh Sagar Lake, which we were supposed to visit next. His following option was much better, we were still close to a road but this time we had a view over the lake and there was no buffet.  

After lunch we visited the famous Saheliyon-ki-Bari (Courtyard of the Maidens). The gardens were built in the 18th century by Maharana Bhopal Singh near the Fateh Sagar Lake for a group of women who came with a princess to Udaipur as part of her dowry. There are several ornate water pools in the gardens. The first one as you enter has a kiosk in the middle and four smaller black marble kiosks on the four corners. The pink bougainville flowers add to the beauty of this pool.  Another water tank has a small decorated pillar in the middle and is filled with lotus flowers. Elephants in marble spray water from their trunks.

John slightly surprised when the fountain next to him started to spout water

After the gardens, we had a quick drive along Fateh Sagar Lake, which is popular with locals for a romantic stroll along the dam.  Back in the city, John and I went for a wander through the narrow streets and along the ghats by the side of the lake. The tranquility was disturbed, however, by loud music coming from the other side of the lake. We crossed the bridge and saw two huge loudspeakers in front of a temple and young kids putting a floating Shiva lingam into the water. Apparently the loud music, which was not particularly religious, accompanied the lingam into the water. When we came back from our stroll, the lingam was actually spraying water, which was a slightly disturbing sight given its signification.

Down by the ghats

View of the ghats in the late afternoon sun

We found that the other part of the city was also, if not more, touristy and the main street was full of shops. One of the hotels had a rooftop restaurant offering a great view over the city palace, so we sipped at a crisp Kingfisher beer while enjoying sunset on the other side of the lake. The light of the setting sun gave a beautiful golden colour to the city palace.

The City Palace in the last light of the falling sun

View of our hotel from across the lake

We joined John's parents for dinner in the restaurant of our hotel and enjoyed a very tasty dinner while admiring the view.  After dinner John's mother thought it would be a good idea to check the status of our flight to Mumbai the following morning.  She was right.  It turned out that many Kingfisher flights, including ours, had been cancelled because of their financial problems.  Thankfully there was a travel agent near the hotel who was able to reserve us tickets on a flight from Ahmedabad, around 3 hours drive away, and was also able to provide a car and driver.  This meant that the relaxed morning in Udaipur that we had planned was replaced by an early start and a long drive, but it could have been much worse.  We packed as quickly as we could so as to squeeze in as many hours of sleep as possible.