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Udaipur
The
Romantic Lake City in Southern Rajasthan, India
Text and Photography by Robert Watson
Don't be disappointed when you arrive at Udaipur airport, 560 km from New Delhi, and there's not a lake in sight. In 20 minutes and for as little as 100 rupees you'll soon be at the heart of one of the true jewels of Rajasthan.
Udaipur is a city of 350,000 in southern Rajasthan situated around two large, glistening lakes with the beguiling old city nestled on the edge of the larger Lake Pichola. North of Lake Pichola is the smaller lake Fateh Sagar with the popular garden island, Nehru Park. The mirror surface of Lake Pichola is broken only by the occasional boat ferrying guests to the popular Lake Palace Hotel, formerly a palace built by Maharajah Jagat Singh 11 in 1754, operating now as a luxury hotel featuring beautiful gardens, courtyards, and swimming pools. The lake reflects the cloudless, blue skies and ancient, whitewashed buildings lining its sides.
To the west, perched like an eagle's nest on top of one of the rugged mountain tops surrounding Udaipur, is the former Maharajahs Monsoon Palace. It is here the Maharajah and his family would often reside during the monsoon season to get relief from the hot, wet conditions. Around the old city, there are remnants of a once great fortified wall that enclosed the original old city. Today, much of this wall has been demolished or buried under the expanding city.
If you crave luxury and comfort, both qualities that somehow seem synonymous with this enchanting city, the Shivniwas Palace Hotel is the place to stay. The Shivniwas Palace Hotel is in the grounds of, and originally formed part of, one of the largest and most extravagent palaces in Rajasthan - the Udaipur City Palace. The Shivniwas is rated as a top-class Heritage hotel and facilities include a choice of well-appointed rooms and suites, swimming pool, conference areas, squash court, health club and beauty parlour.
To get your bearings - and a spectacular view - take a 5-minute taxi journey from the city centre to Sajjan Niwas Gardens and make a moderate climb to the old city wall running along the ridge above the city. Here, even the mildly romantic tourist will be able to gain a sense of what it must have been like to see Emperor Akbar's Moghul army advancing across the plains in the late 16th century.
Maharajah Udai Singh founded Udaipur in 1568 after his final unsuccessful attempt to defend the Mewar capital, Chittorgarh from the invading Moghuls under Akbar. The site for Udaipur was chosen for it's natural beauty, abundant water - Udai Singh was an avid gardener - and natural protection afforded by the surrounding mountains. The City Palace is an intriguing collection of buildings contributed by various maharajahs after Udai Singh.
A personal guided tour of the City Palace reveals relics of the city's past. Start at the main palace entrance, the northern Tripolia Gate. Built in 1725, it has eight magnificently carved marble arches that bring you to a central courtyard with immaculately manicured gardens and a variety of shops selling miniature paintings, wall hangings and other attractive handicrafts. The courtyard is the best place to view the facade of filigreed balconies and ornate cupola-topped towers of the palace. Inside the palace, now primarily a museum, is an extravagance of ancient elegance - the beautiful peacock mosaics in the Mor Chowk section of the palace, the porcelain and glass in the Manak (Ruby) Mahal, the exquisite mirrorwork in Moti Mahal, and the ornamental tiles in Chini Mahal. The lake views from the windows and balconies on the upper floors are superb.
Throughout the palace are paintings and miniatures depicting the interesting, and at times, bloody history of Udaipur. At the palace art school, artists paint high quality miniatures and explain their methods while hoping, rather than pushing, visitors to buy. Of the many outlets in Udaipur for these collectibles, the range and price, as well as the relaxed atmosphere at this government sanctioned art school, make it hard to beat.
Most of the market areas are reasonably close to each other, from the clock tower near the Jagdish Temple to the Hathipol Bazaar. Dedicated shoppers will find, "batik" wall hangings, a specialty of Udaipur's Moslem community; good value silver jewellery, sold by weight; unusual semi-precious stones that are unique to the area; and a good variety of inexpensive traditional and modern clothing and footware. As with elsewhere in India, bargaining is expected and usually accompanied by a cup of "chai" (traditional, sweet Indian tea). Touts will approach you, like it or not, and are often helpful in finding interesting, out-of-the-way shops. The best time to shop is late afternoon and evening, when the shopkeepers anticipation of a successful trading day may have waned a little and bargaining becomes easier.
For craft demonstrations, as well as dance and music performances, visit Shilp Gram craft village - about 7km from the city centre - where artisans from Rajasthan and the neighboring states of Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra peddle their wares.
In Udaipur you can indulge in the best of Indian cuisine with a good variety of restaurants serving both traditional southern vegetarian dishes as well as meat dishes more typical of northern India. Lunch at the Shivniwas Palace Hotel is a hedonistic experience, with the magnificently ornate pool, eagles soaring over the hotel towers and even squirrels scurrying around the beautiful gardens. The service and food are among the best in Rajasthan with the tasty fried, spicy eggplant; the lamb, spinach and yogurt along with accompanying dishes and washed down with one of the varieties of local beer or imported wine. Dinner in the courtyard, by the pool is accompanied by live sitar music on most evenings. Another equally good restaurant is at the neighboring Fateh Prakesh Hotel - situated in the same grounds - with wonderful views over the Lake Palace Hotel and the Maharajahs Lake Palace and a rich display of historical paintings and weapons on the walls.
Other restaurants recommended are the Roof Garden Cafe with it's hanging gardens and view of the City Palace, and Berry's Restaurant on Chetak Circle serving moderately priced vegetarian and meat dishes, including delicious tandoori dishes and scrumptious vegetarian kofta - dumplings stuffed with vegetables and spices. If possible, you should visit the Lake Palace Hotel on Jagniwas Island for the renowned view of the city and slightly pricy buffet lunch. However the hotel is not always accessible to non-resident guests so it's a good idea to check first with the tourist office on Ashok Nager Road just outside the old city wall.
Kumbhalgarh Fort Day Trip
If it's adventure you yearn for, take a day trip from Udaipur to Kumbhalgarh Fort, said to have taken an army and workforce of 50,000 to build and man. Kumbhalgarh is about 80 kilometres from Udaipur and can be reached by car. The standard rate for a comfortable Ambassador car and driver for the day is around 1400 rupees/AUD$56.00 - local taxis will probably offer cheaper rates - and the round trip takes between 9 and 11 hours depending upon how many stops you make.
As you leave Udaipur heading north on a secondary sealed road, the landscape varies from rugged, barren, brown hills, speckled with Rajasthanis in their brightly-coloured clothes and glittering jewellery, to lush, fertile valleys, cultivated under primitive, but extremely effective irrigation systems. There are people everywhere - in the hills, in the fields and on the side of the road. Tending goats and camels, collecting firewood and driving the bullock teams to generate water from wells for irrigation, the people are friendly and content.
On the way to Kumbhalgarh, an extended family group of nomadic goat herders, camped in a field, did their best to sell me a kid goat for 250 rupees and, further along the road, a dignified Rajput gentleman posed proudly for a photograph with the pride of his cow herd. The villages in this area are clusters of small slate buildings with shingle roofs; the miles of fences have been painstakingly constructed of native stone.
At the bottom of the Aravalli range begins the ascent to Kumbhalgarh Fort, through steep-sided valleys and along roads carved into the sides of the hills.
The first sighting of the fort does not prepare you for its magnificence. Massive, fortified walls follow the spiny ridges for 36 kilometres enclosing villages, ancient Jain temples, and the castle at the top of Rajasthan's highest fort, at 1100 metres. The fort and castle were built in the 15th century by Maharajah Kumbha and breached only once in history by the combined armies of Akbar, Marwar and Amber.
Hitch a ride on a camel from the fort entrance to the heavily fortified castle gates, complete with protruding spikes to discourage elephant charges. A local guide can show you around the castle. Like Udaipur City Palace, the castle has been added to over the centuries by various Maharajahs. The castle was primarily used as a warriors defensive hideaway and as such does not have the splendour of some other palaces in Rajasthan. However, the fort and castle is a spectacular feat of engineering and architecture and, from the castle rooftop, accessed by narrow, easily defended stairways, has a view encompassing the mountains, plains and deserts. Below a precipitous drop to the south is a national park and game reserve that boasts a large population of panthers and bears.
The village below the castle is dominated by the beautiful Chamunda Devi temple with ornate carvings and stone pillars. The villagers at Kumbhalgarh welcome visitors in a relaxed way reflecting their relative isolation and interest in outside people. The Aohdi Guest House nearby resembles a safari lodge and has accommodation in comfortable castle-like cottages and serving good Rajasthani meals or snacks. You could quite easily spend a day or two based here to further explore the 586 square kilometre Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, or trek the surrounding hills and forests on foot or on horseback.
Returning to Udaipur in the late afternoon, you can anticipate something interesting around every bend in the road. At one point near dusk, we were pulled over to the side of the road to avoid a stampede of escaping camels. It's also the right time of the day for village market activity that's quite different to the bustle of markets in the larger towns and cities.
Before leaving Udaipur, a boat trip on Lake Pichola visiting the Lake Palace Hotel and the Maharajahs Palace on Jagmandir Island will give you a lasting memory of this romantic and majestic city. The views back to the city from the islands are truly magnificent.
Udaipur is the perfect interlude
from the normal, bustling, crowded India - no less exciting, just a wonderful
place to relax and unwind surrounded by the richness of Udaipur's history, architecture
and people.
TravelFile
TRAVELLING TO UDAIPUR:
Indian Airlines and Modiluft have regular
flights from Delhi and Bombay. Indian Railways run the Pink City Express from
New Delhi via Jaipur to Udaipur daily.
HOTELS:
UDAIPUR
Shivniwas Palace Hotel, Fateh Prakesh
Hotel and Lake Palace Hotel (deluxe and heritage).Rang
Niwas Hotel, Hotel Jagat Niwas and Hotel Raj Palace (mid range).
Lal Ghat Guest House, Badi Haveli and
Ranjit Niwas Hotel (lower range).
There are numerous other hotels and guesthouses
in all price categories. Prices are subject to seasonal variations.
KUMBHALGARH
Aodhi Hotel (deluxe range)
CURRENCY:
Australian dollars are accepted in
India although U.S. dollars are the preferred currency. Exchange rates vary
but are usually in the range of 22 - 25 rupees per Australian dollar. Major
credit cards are welcomed in most places although, to avoid inconvenience it's
advisable to carry to some travellers cheques.
CLIMATE:
Temperatures vary from min.8 C to max.28
C in winter months and from min.20 C to max.40 C in summer. The onset of the
monsoon "wet" season is mid-June lasting until late September. The fine, warm
days and cool nights of November to February make this a popular time for visitors.
INFORMATION:
In Australia contact: Government
of India Tourist Office, Level 2 Piccadilly, 210 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW
Telephone: (02) 9264 4855
Fax: (02) 9264 4860