Udaipur – City of Lakes [ Rajasthan ]

By Shweta Mohta - May, 12th 2010

Mt Abu was such a relaxation, One of my best experience and after staying there for 2 days we were ready to visit Udaipur which I have read in history is city of lakes. It is surprising that there is so much of water in this city and rest of Rajasthan specially the Thar’s have non.

We started at around 8 am after having breakfast and planned to take lunch in Udaipur which is not very far. Check the stats below :

Distance from Mt. Abu : 165 Km
Time taken : 3 hrs approx.
Time spent: 6 hrs.

Udaipur Road Map

We reached Udaipur about 11 at noon. After reaching Udaipur, the first thing we do is take the lunch at Hotel Natraj and had Gujarati Food, the quality was amazing and then we started discovering Udaipur.

Udaipur is an oasis in the dry heart of Rajasthan.Maharana Udai Singh founded the city of Udaipur in 1567.It was the capital of Mewar in Rajputana Regency. Udaipur is surrounded by hills and mountains and set on the edge of 3 lakes. Apart from its glorious history, culture and beauty. Udaipur is also known for its Rajput era palaces.

The dream city comprises enhancing lakes, marble palaces beautifully laid on the gardens and old temples.Now a days many of the palaces have been converted into luxury resorts and hotels.

Places of Interest :

City Palace.
Lake Palace.
Maharana Pratab Memorial, Moti Magri
Jag Mandir
Sahelion ki Baadi.
The Sun Symbol.

City Palace :

Udaipur city palace is one of the architectural marvel of Rajasthan located peacefully on the bank of the lake Pichola, and is one of the largest palace complex in Rajasthan. It is started by Maharana Udai Singh in 1559 and completed by his successor till 18^th century. The palace has various tower, dome and arches which makes the palace the palace a perfect heritage site.

City Palace

Lake Palace :

It is one of the most romantic places in the land of Rajasthan. It was built by Maharaja Jagat singh in 1746.It is situated in the mid of the Picola lake and was used as the summer’s residence by the Mughal Emperor. As it is surrounded by water from all sides, it remains famous in the world architecture, beautiful fountains, well laid gardens and the imposes of Aravillis make the palace as a perfect place to spend your time .Recently, this royal summer palace is converted into a luxury hotel of Taj group.

Lake Palace – Taj

Maharana Pratap Memorial :

It is a historic site which is dedicated to the Maharana Pratap. It is situated east side of Fateh Sagar on the top of the Moti magri or Pearl hills and was completed in 1967. On a white marble platform Teh bronze statue of Rana Pratap on the back of his horse. Chetak is the name of the horse and it is believed that Chetak was a faithful horse and extremely protective towards Maharana Pratap.

Maharana Pratap

Maharana PratapHundred climb the lined uphill path to pay homage of Rana Pratap and Chetak who was killed in the battle of Haldighati. With in the memorial complex, there is a Japenese rock garden which is very beautiful. Battle of Haldighati

Elephant attacking Maharana Pratap

The battle scene above describes how Maharana Pratap was decieved and Chetak was hurt from below by the elephant.

Death of Chetak

This is one of my favourite place throughout the Rajasthan tour. It was built by Maharana Sangram Singh in 1734 and is situated in the north of the city. Once, it was destroyed by the heavy rains and is was rebuilt by Maharana Fateh Singh.The garden is famous for its lush green lawns, fountains, flower beds and marble architecture. There are five beautiful fountain which are called Swagat fountain, Sawan bhado, Kamal Talai, Ras lila and Bin badal barsat .All these fountain have their special meaning according to their name.

Histoical aspect : This garden was designed by the king himself and presented it to the queen. The queen was accompanied by 48 maids at the time of her marriage. To offer all of them, a pleasure moments this garden was made. The queen used to come here with her maids and spend their time in leisure.

The Sun symbol :

The symbol of Surya symbolises the Maharanas as the Suryavanshsi. It is also known as Surya pol built bt Maharana Karan singh. The weight of the sun symbol is estimated to be 50 kg. The symbols is made up of metal and gold. The significance of the symbol is that during monsoon, the Maharanas would have their food and started work only after a visit at the symbol.

We missed seeing this but I was able to find a picture for you from flickr. Thanks to Lapidim

There are few more places in Udaipur which are worth seeing like Jag Mandir, Jagdish Temple, Gulab Bag etc which you can also see. We had to skip since we need to travel to Nathdwara which is 3.5 hrs of Journey and its a good idea to reach there by evening.

3 Comments to Udaipur – City of Lakes [ Rajasthan ]

merle on May 20, 2010 08:46:31

wow … really nice.. plannin to go to mt abu n udaipur 2010 may ed.. this is really helpful,,, thnk u
shweta on May 20, 2010 17:38:57

hi merle.. good to know that it is helpful to you..hav a nice journey..keep reading for the new things.
Danish on May 24, 2010 11:55:32

Hi Shweta,
Rajasthan is blessed with quite a lot of beautiful monuments and natural beauty as well, but the way you photographed the images, it made the place more beautiful and meaning full as well.
Thanks for great work.

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