Udaipur, is a royal city of Rajasthan that had been the capital of Mewar rulers for centuries. Udaipur also known as the City of Lakes, some even call it as the Vennace of the East. Udaipur has been declared as one of the number one tourist destination in india.
The romantic city of Udaipur has a legend behind its origin and it goes like this. Once, Maharana Udai Singh happened to meet a holy sage when he was on his hunting expedition in the Aravalli Hills. The Sage counseled the King to establish a kingdom in the fertile valley that would be well-protected by the elevated Aravalli Hills. Subsequently, Maharana Udai Singh laid the foundation stone of Udaipur in 1557 A.D.
Our flight arrived early so we hired a cab and arrived at the hotel. After breakfast we decided to walk till the City Palace, as it was near by only. As we were walking through the ancient and narrow alleys, we saw old houses with Rajasthani architecture with paintings on the exterior walls.
On reaching the City palace we bought the tickets and wandered through its beautiful rooms and apartments. The Mor Chowk was the most beautiful place. One can view the Pichola lake from that part of the palace. The crystal gallery(great collection of crystals) left me speech less. Almost everything in that gallery was made up of crystals.
Later we visited the Saheliyon-ki-Bari (a major garden and a popular tourist space in Udaipur). Locals says that this garden was built for the queens of the royal family. One can also visit the Lok kala Mandal for the puppet show. But we kept our evening for this very famous show performed by the local artists of the Udaipur. This show includes dances and plays from different region of the Rajasthan. If One in not intrested in this show than you can take a boat ride at 5 PM on the picturesque lake – Pichola Lake & enjoy the beautiful sunset at famous Jagmandir Island and later can watch the famous light & sound show at performed at the City Palace only.
Next morning after breakfast we hired a Cab and drove towards the old city of the royal family of udaipur, the Kumbhalgarh Fort. Kumbhalgarh is the second most important citadel after Chittorgarh in the Mewar region. Cradled in the Aravali Ranges the fort was built in the 15th century by Rana Kumbha. It is belived that because of its inaccessibility and hostile topography this fort had remained unconquered. The Fort holds the second larges wall ever built after the Great Wall of China. It also served the rulers of Mewar as a refuge in times of strife. The fort also served as refuge to the baby king Udai of Mewar. It is also of sentimental significance as it is the birthplace of Mewar's legendary King Maharana Partap.
One can see that Maharana Kumbha built this fort with a good planning as the fort is self-contained and has within its amalgam almost everything to withstand a long siege. But the history says that the fort fell only once that too to the combined armies of Mughal and of Amber for scarcity of drinking water.
Many magnificent palaces and array of temples were built by the Mauryas and maharanas of mewar in this fort, of these the most picturesque palace is the Badal Mahal (the palace of the clouds). The fort also offers a superb birds view of the surrounding Aravali Ranges. Maharana Fateh Singh renovated the fort in the 19th century. The Fort also holds an old Lord Shiva temple built by Rana Kummbha. It is famous for its 4-5 feet high Shiv-ling. This temple have different type of architecture and there are many carved stone pillars in the shiv temple. The locals says that the shiv-ling of this temple has been made with Kasoti Stone, which is used to test real gold.
The fort's large compound has very interesting ruins and the walk around it can be very rewarding. Also one will notice that the security of the fort is cradled with seven massive gate and ultra strong walls. The fort's outer wall stretches somewhere around 36 kms and is wide enough to take seven horses abreast.
After Kumbhalgarh Fort we drove towards the Ranakpur Jain temple. The temple is located in a village of Ranakpur near Sadri town in the Pali district of Rajasthan. Ranakpur Jain temple is famous for its intricate carvings and unique architecture. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take our cameras inside the main temple.
The temple has a garbhagriha in which the main Chaumukha Adinatha idol is placed. The four openings of the sanctum lead to rangamandapa (the Dancing hall), which is connected to a two-storeyed mandapa, which is again connected to another two-storeyed mandapa called Balana and nalimandapa. This courtyard is surrounded by a wall enclosing sub-shrines.
After returning from Ranakpur we went to the Ambrai Ghat for dinner. Ambrai Ghat's scenic beauty is icing on the cake. The view of City palace from Ambrai Ghat is amazing. It is a very tranquil spot and a great place to view the activity on the lake and the beautiful buildings over the other side.