Havelis to royal gardens: 5 reasons you should visit Udaipur
Photo: Mail Today
Once you look past the cacophony in Udaipur, a lot of old gems in the city will lure you with their charm and magic.
Udaipur's tag - as being one of the most romantic places to visit in India - is not just a thing of the past. Although originally applied to this city in Rajasthan by Colonel James Tod, who was the East India Company's first political agent, it still has the potential to conjure up magic. If you can look past the car horns that bellow like lost sheep, and the stray cattle that threaten to run you over, there's a multitude of treats - both old and new - to seek out.
ROYAL ROADS
From the inevitable boatride on the waters of Lake Pichola, the City Palace might appear as a massive fort; but once you step inside, it's a space as varied in attraction as it is intimate. Chances are you'll be absorbed by each well-demarcated section of the Palace. Appreciate the mosaic work in the Sheesh Mahal, or re-create times past in the intricately-painted Zenana Mahal. Just don't let the additional fee to the Crystal Gallery keep you from popping in. It's a mind-boggling treasure trove of crystal - sofas, mirrors, tiny perfume bottles, even beds. For more insights into royal predilections, the Vintage and Classic Car Museum is worth a stop. This open-air museum owned by Sriji Arvind Singh Mewar, is home to roughly twodozen gleaming vehicles - from the 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom that was used in the filming of Octopussy, to a 1938 Cadillac.
HAVELI ALERT
The 18th century mansion Bagore-ki-Haveli, built on the waterfront of Lake Pichola, gives you much to sing and dance about - quite literally. Every evening, a show which travellers vote for with their feet (evident by the long lines for tickets) unfolds. It's a curated, colourful extravaganza of traditional dance and music. Re-visit during the day for a peek at the eccentric, somewhat kitsch, but characterful rooms of the rambling haveli. Think a chamber devoted to a colourful collection of puppets, a larger-than-life turban (claiming to be the world's largest), musical instruments of all permutations, wall paintings and even a room dedicated to key monuments of the world, re-created craftily in polystyrene.
LOCAL ENTERPRISE
Cafes in Udaipur sprout like bamboo - some environmentally conscious, others are odes to the small-scale - but all quirky and spirited. Millets of Mewar prides itself on using gluten-free and organic ingredients, local millet when possible - for instance. When you've got past how delectable the millet cookies and vegan pancakes are, book a cooking class or a guided art or city walk here. Cafe Satori also belongs to the litany of comfy, funky places, at which travellers can linger over a cuppa tea and a borrowed book. The spirit of local entrepreneurship extends beyond the cafe scene to the range of crafts on sale. There's an array of stalls in the Lal Ghat area - specialising in paper, doorknobs, leather goods, puppets and other handicrafts. For a feast of miniature painting (including the chance to see local artisans at work), and an array of interesting antiques and embellishments for the home, pop into Shyam Arts.
Photo: Mail Today
GARDEN CENTRAL
Spending an evening in the Saheliyon ki Bari or Courtyard of the Maidens, is a bit like time unfolding in a library written in landscape. Trees of all shapes and sizes, and flowers of every permutation - greet you. This courtyard was once built as summer retreat for the diversion and entertainment of the ladies of the royal household. Today it continues to act as verdant respite from the dry landscape of Rajasthan. The soundtrack to any experience here is that of flowing water - emanating from fountains always in spate - thanks to the waters of the adjoining Fateh Sagar Lake that feed them. The most elaborate of the fountains, is a haiku of lotus pool, marble pavillion and elephant-shaped statues.
GRAND OVERVIEW
Bypass the isolated Sajjan Garh or Monsoon Palace, perched on a hill a short ride away from the City Palace, at your own loss. If walls could talk, the ones here would tell of how this now empty palace, was once built to serve as a summer retreat for the royal family. Appropriately named, the Monsoon Palace was meant to stand as a suitable place from which to watch the monsoon clouds flit across the countryside. From the guide's litany of wellrepeated facts, you'll also learn that the palace was built by the Maharana at the top of a hill, to get a view of his ancestral home Chittaurgarh. You'll also learn that the palace was employed as one of the locations for the filming of the 1983 James Bond film -Octopussy. Today, this is where the travelling hordes arrive for superlative views of the city, lakes and attendant countryside. Especially at sunset.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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