In Udaipur, the visitor finds his dream of India come true
for the city combines real beauty with picturesque associations of a great
and glorious past. It stands in a valley, amid green hills on the banks of
the wide blue lake Pichola. On little islands in the lake, from the water's
edge rises marble Palace in pure white which glistens like a fairy castles.
Crowning the ridge, in which the city clusters, along the shores of the lake
is the Palace of the Maharana. Within the palace is all the magnificent
views of the panorama below.
Sightseeing
at Udaipur The City Palace: City Palace is imperial with
its multicoloured mosaics, mirror work inlaid tiles and roof gardens.
Courts, fountains, apartments and gardens embellish them and decorated with
arabesques of coloured stones, they are startling pleasure palaces, a rich
experience that can now be captured as they have been converted into modern
resorts.
Lake Pichola : Maharana Udai Singh II extended
the serene Lake Pichola and constructed a masonry dam (Badipol), about 4 km
long and 3 km wide, it is not deep - it often dries up in times of severe
summers. Fortunately, this doesn't happen often. The City Palace lies by the
eastern shores of the Pichola. Here, you can wander along the bathing and
washing ghats by the lakeside. Pichola has two islands - Jagniwas and
Jagmandir. Boat shuttles to and from the City Palace jetty (Bansi Ghat) are
popular.
Lake Palace : Jag Niwas, the Lake Palace, is the
most prominent of these and rivals one of the most luxurious apartments in
the world. Laxmi Niwas and Shiv Niwas are smaller palaces, but exquisite in
detail and idyllically located.
Other sightseeing of Udaipur includes
visits to Sahelion ki Bari, a drive around Fateh Sagar Lake, Jagdish Temple
and Gulab Niwas Garden.
Reaching
Udaipur - Air : Well connected with Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur,
Mumbai, Aurangabad airports.
Rail : The railhead here is
well linked to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chittaurgarh, Jaipur railheads.
Road
: Ahmedabad 262 km, Bombay 739 km, Delhi 670 km, Jaipur 407 km,
Chittorgarh 115 km and Mount Abu 185 km. The roads are well connected.
Shopping
in Udaipur - Udaipur has countless shops and many interesting local
crafts. Udaipur is famous for producing furniture covered with silver and
inlaid with mother of pearl and bone. Traditional Rajput-Mughal-style
miniature paintings in a variety of mediums, such as bone, paper, silk,
marble, and wood are other major attractions. A plethora of items like folk
toys, colourful tie-dye sarees and clothes, turbans, hand painted fabrics,
silver Jewellery, wall hangings and miniature paintings in Rajput Style are
the favourite buys. The beautiful images of Gods and Goddesses made in the
nearby Molalla village near Nathdwara are not to be missed.
The
Shopping spots include a cluster of stalls on the Lake Palace road next to
the Rang Niwas Palace Hotel and the Jagdish Temple.