Udaipur The Venice of the East.... First glimpse of it...City Palace of Udaipur

I had arrived in Udaipur The Venice of the East. Train was right on time and i had reached my hotel Shree Vilas Orchid. As usual i had charted out all my activites and there was not much of time for me to start unchecking my bucket list.

It took only an hour or so to freshen me up and make myself ready to start my second journey of Rajasthan , till now it was just a plan but first move was about to take. My car was with me but i decided to give it a rest and give my feets some dose of walking and have a glance of the city.

My first destination was City Palace of Udaipur, considered as the largest Royal Palace in Rajasthan and is replete with history. Maharanas of Mewar lived and administered their kingdom from this palace , as Udaipur was the Capital of Mewar at that time , so for me it was like a magnet which was attracting me from the far. I had a glimpse of it while coming from the Railway station to my hotel and that very short glimpse was more than enough to compel me to start the day from this Majestic Palace.


[caption id="attachment_771" align="alignnone" width="1024"] City Palace of Udaipur[/caption]

This was my first view of City Palace of Udaipur and i was amazed to see its grand structure. I had been to City Palace of Jaipur on my previous Rajasthan Trip but on seeing this my first words were "This is the best example of word Grand and it is much bigger, better , royal and above all well maintained ".

[caption id="attachment_772" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Majestic City Palace,Udaipur, from the front[/caption]

Built with a fusion of the Rajasthani and Mughal architectural styles, built on a hill top that gives a panoramic view of the city and its surrounding. Its grand structure had appealed me the most, though going inside and having a look of it from inside was still left. My camera was clicking on its own like he has also started loving the architecture of this majestic City Palace of Udaipur , and why not my camera would love to click afterall i paid hefty Rs 225 just to be able to take my camera inside and click pictures otherwise one is not allowed , but atleast i was happy that it is allowed which was not the case in City palace of Jaipur.

[caption id="attachment_773" align="alignnone" width="678"] Near 25Kg iron armour worn by Maharana Pratap[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_774" align="alignnone" width="678"] Maharana Pratap's Horse CHETAK'S statue with elephant Nose[/caption]

City Palace of Udaipur is an agglomeration of structures, including 11 small separate palaces. The unique aspect of this conglomeration is that the architectural design has been borrowed from many architecturel marvels of that and present era, it structure is a rich blend of Rajasthani, Mughal, Medieval,Europeon and Chinese architecture, and is distinctly homogeneous and eye catching. The palace complex has been built entirely in granite and marble. The interiors of the palace complex with its balconies, towers and cupolas exhibit delicate mirror-work, marble-work, murals, wall paintings, silver-work, inlay-work and leftover of coloured glass. The complex provides a fine view of the lake and the Udaipur city from its upper terraces.

Most impressive for me were the Paintings hanging on the walls and the statues like the above pics standing in every showcased room.

Haldighati war was the most famous folk lore for them and for the guides also , may be for that reason there was majority of statues and painting of that war, and every guide to whom i came across though i dint hired one but it is very common when one is visiting a historical monument one would over hear other guide's words. Here every other guide was describing about how Maharana Pratap fought in Haldighati with Akbar and how Akbar had trained his elephants to fight with sword and to win over this situation Maharana Pratap made his Horse to wear an artificial nose of Elephant to look like a kid Elephant.

These folk lores are very common with every era, though every has his own appeal and same was with this.

[caption id="attachment_775" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Top view of Udaipur from City Palace[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_776" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Lake Palace from City Palace[/caption]

Keeping an eye on the whole city from a single point has always been the main purpose of palace's and fort's built in the past and this doesnt confine to Rajasthan only, almost every fort or palace in India has been built like this only and for this purpose only.

Same was happening here , i could have a bird eye view of whole Udaipur city and the main places of it whether that would be Lake Palace (Jal Mahal) , Jag Mandir or the one sitting on the top of mountain very famously called Monsoon Palace that is Sajjan Garh Fort , but dont get confused i have clicked these pics with the full zoom of my new Telephoto zoom lens which was on his maiden trip.

It took me some 2 Hrs to have a whole round of this palace , it is not possible to roam around whole palace as still the Royal Family of Udaipur lives in the half portion of City Palace, and if one is lucky enough one can find prince of Udaipur Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar very stylishly walking and talking to the staff of City Palace of Udaipur.

Though i found one thing very unfair, one would have to shell out again the same amount if one wants to go pass the Royal Family portion only from outside and reach to the Lake Pichola. I gave it a skip as i had planned to visit Fatehsagar Lake at the sunset time and Lake Pichola was just some steps away from my room at Shree Vilas Orchid.

So i came out and bought a lemonade from the lemonade stall just outside the main entrance gate of the City Palace , do try it if one visits, it was amazing.

Plan your Visit to Udaipur