Udaipur – City of Lakes

Udaipur pronunciation (उदयपुर) is a city and a
municipal council in Udaipur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
It is the historic capital of the former kingdom of Mewar, and the
administrative headquarters of Udaipur District. It is also known as the
City of Lakes. The Pichola lake, Fateh Sagar Lake,
Udai Sagar and Swaroop Sagar in this city are considered some of the
most beautiful lakes in the state.
It is known for its Rajput-era palaces. Particularly famous is the
Lake Palace, which covers an entire island in the Pichola Lake. Many of
the palaces have been converted into luxury hotels.




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History


Udaipur was the capital of the Rajput kingdom of Mewar, ruled by
Ranawats of the Sisodia clan. The founder of Udaipur was Rana Udai
Singh. The ancient capital of Mewar was Chittor or Chittorgarh, located
on the Banas River northeast of Udaipur. Legend has it that Maharana
Udai Singh 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 and it would be well protected. Udai Singh
established a residence there. In 1568 the Mughal emperor Akbar captured
Chittor, and Udai Singh moved the capital to the site of his residence,
which became the city of Udaipur.

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Getting In


Udaipur is well connected to the world through land, rail and air.

Road : The city falls on the Golden Quadrilateral,
lying midway between Delhi and Mumbai on National Highway (NH) 8; it is
around 650 kilometres from either metro. The roads in this part of the
country are paved and fit for private vehicles. One can either drive
from Jaipur (around 6 hours) or Ahmedabad (3.5 hours), or take a
Rajasthan Tourism bus from India Gate in Delhi. It also falls on East
West Corridor which starts from Porbandar and ends at Silchar and is
intersecting the Golden Quadrilateral and shares the common space from
Udaipur to Chittor.

Air : Dabok airport, also known as Maharana Pratap
Airport, is 24 kilometres from the city centre. Daily Indian Airlines
flights connect Udaipur with Jodhpur, Jaipur, Aurangabad, Mumbai &
Delhi. There are daily flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur on Jet
Airways, Indian Airlines and Kingfisher Airlines. The airport is going
through modernisation project and will soon have a new terminal building
with an additional 4 stands. The airport has been confirmed as an
International airport by the Government of India.

Train : Train connectivity is established between
Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad through trains run by Indian Railway.
Recently Udaipur got connected with Delhi, Kota and Mathura with the
“Mewar Express” on broadgauge tracks. In August 2007 Udaipur was
connected with Kolkatta, by the “Ananya Express”. A train has also been
introduced between Mumbai and Udaipur via Vadodara, Ratlam and
Chittorgarh. Udaipur lacks direct connectivity to South India, and one
has to reach it either via Kota or Ahmedabad.

Local transport : Unmetered taxis, auto rickshaws,
tongas, city bus, and regular city bus service is available for Udaipur
City main roads to Dabok Airport, Badi Lake, and Bedala.

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Places of interest


City Palace Udaipur

Standing on the east bank of Lake Pichola is a massive series of
palaces built at different times from 1559. The balconies of the palace
provide panoramic views of “Jag Niwas” (the Lake Palace Hotel), Jag
Mandir on one side and on the other the city of Udaipur. Its main
entrance is through the triple-arched gate – the Tripolia, built in
1725. The way now leads to a series of courtyards, overlapping
parations, terraces, corridors and gardens. There is a Suraj Gokhda,
where the maharanas of Mewar presented themselves in the times of
trouble to the people to restore confidence. The Mor-chowk (Peacock
courtyard), gets its name from the mosaics in glass decorating its
walls. The chini chitrashala is noteworthy while a series of wall
paintings of Krishna are on display in Bhim Vilas. There are numerous
other palaces such as Dilkhush mahal, Sheesh mahal, Moti mahal and
Krishna vilas – in memory of a princess of striking beauty who poisoned
herself to avert a bloody battle for her hand by rival princes. Now the
palace contains many antique articles, paintings, decorative furniture
and utensils and attracts thousands of visitors every day. The former
guesthouse of the city palace, Shiv Niwas and the Fateh Prakash Palace
have been converted into heritage hotels.

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Lake Palace

Originally known as the Jag Niwas, took three years to build and was
inaugurated in 1746. Nothing but marble is used in the composition of
this palace.Lake Palace is now a luxury hotel owned by Taj Group of Hotels.

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Jag Mandir

Another island in the Lake Pichola, which is known for its garden
courtyard. Shah Jahan took refuge here while revolting against his
father.

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City Palace and Museum

Pratap Museum, While entering the City palace the straight way go to
the Government Pratap Museum housed with old sculptures and
inscriptions. The antique paintings of Mewar, the turban of prince
Khurram later on called Shah Jahan, who built the world famous Taj Mahal
has also been displayed here as a token of friendship of Maharana
Khazan Singh. Next to Fateh Prakash Palace, houses glass and mirror
works.

Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal

A museum of folk arts. Also hosts puppet shows in its auditorium.

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Maharana Pratap Memorial or Moti Magri

Atop the Moti Magri or Pearl Hill, overlooking the Fateh Sagar Lake
is the memorial of the Rajput hero Maharana Pratap with a bronze statue
of the Maharana astride his favourite horse “Chetak”. More details are
available at Maharanapratap.net, a collection of facts and figures on
Maharana Pratap and his life.

Sajjangarh Fort

The summer resort of the Maharajas is atop the hill overlooking all
the lakes. This palace had a way to collect rain water for consumption
all year around.

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Sukhadia Circle

Sukhadia Circle (Square), Udaipur, a large roundabout in the city’s
northern suburb of Panchwati, on the road to Ranakpur and Mt. Abu. The
centrepiece of the Circle is a large, three-tiered fountain just over 21
m. high, with scalloped dishes surmounted by a wheat-ear motif,
representing prosperity. Illuminated at night, it is now a well-known
landmark. Its foundation was laid in 1968 and was opened in 1970. The
Circle is a popular recreational centre and meeting place. A circular
pond surrounds the fountain; nearby are pleasant gardens. Families and
friends come together, especially at night, when music plays, and dozens
of food, cold drinks and tea stalls do a flourishing trade. Children
particularly enjoy the experience: they float toy boats in the central
pond, where odd duck-shaped pedallos (paddle boats) vie for space; there
is even a mini train nearby. Sukhadia Circle commemorates the memory of
Udaipur’s MOHAN LAL SUKHADIA, one-time Chief Minister of Rajasthan and a
native of Udaipur.

Jagdish Temple

A temple situated in the middle of the city – a big tourist
attraction, the temple of Jagannath Rai, now called Jagdish-ji, is a
major monument. It is raised on a tall terrace and was completed in
1651. It attaches a double storeyed Mandapa (hall) to a double –
storied, saandhara (that having a covered ambulatory) sanctum. The
mandapa has another storey tucked within its pyramidal samavarna (bell –
roof) while the hollow clustered spire over the sanctum contains two
more, non – functional stories. Lanes taking off from many of the
sheharpanah (city wall) converge on the Jagdish Temple. It was built by
Maharana Jagat Singh Ist in 1651 A.D. It is an example of Indo – Aryan
architecture.

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Fateh Sagar Lake

Fateh Sager Lake is a vicinity for young lovers, it is
situated in the north of Lake Picholas. It was originally built by
Maharana Jai Singh in the year 1678 AD, but later on reconstructed and
extended by Maharana Fateh Singh, As lot of destruction was caused by
heavy rains.In the year 1993-1994,the water vanished from the lake and
again in the year 2005-2006, the lake regaind its water.The lake is
tried directly to connect with mansivacal dam so that it doesnot suffer
any type of water problem again in future.

Lake Pichola

The Sapphire Udaipur : Lake Pichola is a lake that has two islands,
Jag Niwas and the Jag Mandir. This lake is 4km long and 3 km wide,
originally built by Maharana Udai Singh II after he discovered Rajasthan
“Udaipur”. There are many ghats, like the bathing and washing ghats,
which can be approached through boats from the City Palace of Udaipur
(Bansi Ghat). In the heart of lake, the Lake Palace stands, which is now
converted into a heritage palace hotel. This palace hotel is considered
to be 3 decades old in the history of Udaipur. The Lake remains fairly
shallow, at the time of heavy rains, and gets dry easily at the time of
severe drought. A hermit is said to have advised the Maharana to
establish his kingdom over Lake Pichola, after the fall of Chittaurgarh
by Mughal emperor Akbar.

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Saheliyon-ki-Bari

Sahelion Ki Bari’ was laid for a group of forty-eight young women
attendants who accompanied a princess to Udaipur as part of her dowry.
The gardens set below the embankment of the Fateh Sagar Lake have
beautiful lotus pools, marble pavilions and elephant- shaped fountains.
These fountains are fed by the water of the lake gushing through ducts
made for the purpose. Each water channel has its distinct sound and the
mingling of these sounds complement the ambience of the place.

Udaipur Solar Observatory

Asia’s only solar observatory, the Udaipur Solar Observatory is
situated on an island in the middle of the Lake Fatehsagar and the main
office building is located at its NW-shore near Bari Road – Rani Road
Junction. The site is run under PRL (Physical Reaserch Lab) in
Ahemdabad. The sky conditions at Udaipur are quite favourable for solar
observations. The large water body surrounding the telescopes decreases
the amount of heating of the surface layers. This decreases the
turbulence in the air mass and thereby improves the image quality and
seeing. The main objective of obtaining the high spatial and temporal
resolution observations of solar photospheric and chromospheric.

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