Udaipur: The Venice of the East

Watermarked by splendour and whimsy, Udaipur, the Venice of the East is truly India’s most seductive cities. An international spot destination unto itself, Udaipur is best known for its magnificent Lake Pichola lapping against glittering white buildings and the Aravalli hills closing in to add charms to the view.

The main attraction of enchanting Udaipur is the magnanimously beautiful floating Lake Palace- impetus enough for Bond films (some parts of Octopussy were filmed here). Packed with royalty and passion, Udaipur is raw Rajput, with its imperial havelis, palaces and temples at every nook and cranny.

Formerly called as Mewar, the lake city was founded in the year 1559 by Maharaja Udai Singh II after he took flight from the final discharge of Chittor by Mughal emperor Akbar.

Simply splendid, no words can describe the beauty of this stunning city. Check out the following list of its top-most sights:

Must-see in Udaipur

Bagore-Ki-Haveli

This 18th- century Haveli, situated on the water’s edge in Gangaur Ghat region, was built by Amir Chand Badwa, the former prime minister of Mewar. The haveli has been carefully kept and consists of 138 room sets around courtyards. There’s also an ey-catching art gallery, displaying magnificent folk art and popular monuments beautifully carved out of polystyrene. An ambience for energetic Rajasthani dance programs sets up each evening at 19:00 in the upper courtyard.

City Palace

A brilliant work of architecture, City Palace, settled over the lake, is largest palace in Rajasthan, with its façade of 30.4 meters high and 224 meters long. Its construction was initiated by Maharaja Udai Singh II, the founder of the city, but its aggregation of buildings is built by several maharajas. However, beautiful City Palace still manages to portray an amazing uniformity in design. The views over the lake are simply breathtaking and perfect eye-curry.

           

Crystal Gallery

The amazing Crystal gallery at Fateh Prakash Palace Hotel is truly a sight worth seeing.  In year 1877, Maharaja Sajjan Singh ordered for a rare crystal from F&C Osler & Co in England. Unfortunately, he died before it arrived. For almost 110 years, all the items stayed packed. The ostentatious, unused, rare collection includes crystal sofas, chairs, tables and beds. No camera please as Photography is completely prohibited here.

Jagdish Temple

Just 150 metres north of City Palace main entrance, Jagdish Temple, was created by Maharaja Jagat Singh in the year 1651. The temple is truly a beautifully carved Indo-Aryan temple. A black stoned image of deity Lord Vishnu is respectfully placed inside the temple.

Shilpgram

This fabulous crafts village is situated 3 kilometres west of the town. The exquisite village holds a fabulous Shilpgram festival in every December. All around the year, the village also sees fantastic performances by traditional artisans and performers from Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat.