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| Udaipur | ||
| Country | India | |
|---|---|---|
| The search for a province ends with the state | ||
| Residents | 451.100 () | |
| height | 600 m | |
| Tourist info | 91 294 2411535, 91 294 2521971 tourism.rajasthan.gov.in/udaipur.html | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
| location | ||
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Udaipur is a big city in Rajasthan in the western India. It was founded in 1567 and is the former capital of the kingdom Mewar. The old town is a labyrinth of small streets and winding alleys. The glorious past seems just a blink of an eye away.
background
Udaipur, the former capital of Mewar, was founded in 1567 southwest of the old royal city of Chittorgarh. The city owes its title "Venice of the East" to its favorable location on the banks of two lakes - Lake Pichola and Fateh Sagar. Surrounded by the rolling hills of the Aravalli Mountains, Udaipur is still one of the most beautiful cities in India and one looks for it in the rest of Rajasthan In vain for a similar city. Numerous artists were and still are inspired by Udaipur's romanticism.
The old town, which is grouped around the city palace, is a labyrinth of small streets and winding alleys. Quite unexpectedly, you suddenly find yourself in front of a magnificent haveli or a decorated temple. Udaipur's glorious past seems just a blink of an eye away.
Founded by Maharana Udai Singh, Udaipur is the jewel of Mewar, a kingdom ruled by the Sisodias dynasty for more than 1200 years. After a devastating war with the Mughal rulers, they had to give up their old capital Chittorgarh because of its unfavorable location and decided to settle further south in the protective Aravalli Mountains. On the advice of a wise man, they laid the foundation stone for their new capital on the shores of Lake Pichola. The new city got the name of its founder Udai Singh.
In the past, Udaipur was protected by a city wall that was built in a ring around the city and had eleven city gates and a fortification. Today only a few parts of the wall and eight of the former eleven city gates that were listed as historical monuments are left. However, the city has long since overgrown its former boundaries and today has around 450,000 inhabitants.
In order to ensure the optimal water supply for their subjects, the rulers of Udaipur built an ingenious system of dams and canals. This resulted in today's cityscape with the large upper reservoir Fateh Sagar and the connecting lakes Swaroop Sagar and Rang Sagar. Connected by locks and canals, the water level of Lake Pichola is kept constant and the water supply for the population is guaranteed.
Udaipur is famous all over the world, largely thanks to the Jag Niwas Summer Palace, or Lake Palace, which was built on an island in Lake Pichola and was the summer residence of the kings. After the former rulers of Rajasthan had to give up their titles and privileges, Lake Palace was leased to the prominent hotel chain Taj Group and expanded into a luxury hotel. Prominent guests included Queen Elizabeth and Jacky Kennedy. In 1982 the James Bond film "Octopussy" was partly shot in Udaipur and immortalized Lake Palace in the annals of film history.
The second smaller island palace in Lake Pichola is the Jag Mandir, built by Maharana Karan Singh in the 16th century. Jag Mandir served mainly as a guest house for the rulers of Udaipur and from 1623-1624 housed the Mughal Prince Khurram and later Emperor Shah Jahan, who, according to stories, got his inspiration for the Taj Mahal from here. English refugees found shelter here during the Indian Revolution of 1857 under the protection of the Maharana.
The rulers of Udaipur made sure that Udaipur was always green and shady and built a number of gardens in the city for this purpose. Many of them still exist today and give the city its green cityscape and the associated nickname "Kashmir of Rajasthan". At the weekend, numerous residents are drawn to the parks such as Gulab Bagh (rose garden) or Sahelion-ki-Badi (garden of virgins) for a picnic.
In the old town there are still a large number of havelis, the former villas of the rich merchants and nobles. The most magnificent and largest of them is the Bagore-ki-Haveli on the Gangaur Ghat. The former home of an influential aristocratic family is now a museum that brings visitors closer to the ancient way of life of the Rajputs.
getting there
There are many ways to travel to Udaipur as Udaipur has an airport, two train stations, a bus station and is right off National Highway 8.
By plane
- 1 Udaipur airport
(IATA: UDR)
Four airlines now fly to Udaipur:
- Air Deccan
There are flight connections to Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Jodhpur.
By train
- 2 Udaipur City railway station
- 3 Rana Pratap Nagar railway station
Rail journeys in India are a special experience. The railway is a traditional company that works incredibly precisely. At ticket prices that are so low that I had to calculate several times before I believed that there was no calculation error. Therefore, the trains are usually fully booked weeks in advance, especially the first tier sleepers, which you should definitely use for the journey Delhi - Udaipur. It is a special pleasure to get the tickets through the service provider Cleartrip to order. There you can see the timetable, all classes and the number of places that can still be booked. Payment by credit card and refund in the event of timely cancellation. The electronic ticket is immediately printed out on the computer. It must be presented together with the passport. Be careful when departing from Delhi. The train station is not (!) Central Station in New Delhi, but the one in Old Delhi.
It makes sense to use a porter to get onto the right platform. He then also knows where the right car is. The trains are very long, but are ready long before departure in Delhi, for example. Once you have found the right car, there is a computer printout on the door with the names of all those booked. For me it was a great experience to see in all the crowd that it worked.
The Mewar Express runs once a day between Delhi and Udaipur. The train ride takes 12 hours and arrives in Udaipur at 7 a.m.
Train connections also exist between Udaipur and Chittorgarh as well as between Mumbai (Bandra).
By bus
- 4 Udaipur City Bus Depot
In the street
- National Highway (NH) 8
- National Highway (NH) 76
By boat
mobility
Tourist Attractions
temple
- 1 Jagdish Temple (जगदीश मंदिर, उदयपुर).Jagdish Temple can be reached by walking towards the visitor gate (Bara Pol) of the City Palace. It is located on the right-hand side and is accessible via a large, wide staircase. The architecture of the temple, founded by Maharana Jagat Singh I in 1651, is classified as Indo-Aryan. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu (Laxmi Narayan). Lord Jagdish is the form of Vishnu revered here. Radha and Krishna as well as Surya, Shiva and Ganesh are worshiped in side shrines. Figure friezes with elephants, dancers and musicians are well worth seeing.
Castles, chateaus and palaces
- 2 City Palace (city palace).Even today, the city is dominated by the mighty City Palace, the largest palace complex in Rajasthan. On the back of a flat hill, he overlooks Lake Pichola. The first buildings were built around 1567, but later kings added numerous extensions. Nevertheless, at first glance, the city palace looks surprisingly uniform in its appearance. Today, in addition to the private apartment of the descendant of the last king, it houses two luxury hotels, a museum, a number of shops and a school. A small part is also used for administrative purposes.
- 3 Monsoon palace (Monsoon Palace) (About 5 km outside the city).Located on a hill is the Monsun Palace, a ruined palace from the 18th century; outside Udaipur, but within easy reach of the city. The construction work, started by Maharana Sajjan Singh, was never completed after his death. Today, the Monsoon Palace dominates the Udaipur skyline and visitors who make their way up are rewarded with a great view over the city and the two lakes. The hills around the palace were declared a nature reserve in 2002 and are a retreat for the last leopards in the area. The palace houses an exhibition on the various animal species of the Aravalli Mountains. Especially in the evening, many visitors come up to watch the sunset from up there.
Buildings
Monuments
Public parks and gardens
- 4 Sahelion Ki Bari (Badi) (saheliyon ki bari).Garden of the Maidens, borders the Fateh Sagar Lake, is located north of the city palace and was built in the 18th century by Maharana Sangram Singh for the royal ladies. The story goes that the garden was designed by the Maharana himself as a gift to the queen and for use by her 48 ladies-in-waiting. There are numerous fountains in four water basins in the garden. These were imported from England with the associated reservoir. This also means that water is used sparingly and that the fountains are opened for a fee at times. Also noteworthy are elephants made of marble and four kiosks, which are crowned by water-spouting birds. This is to create the illusion of falling rain. They were established by the later Maharana Bhopal Singh. On the property there is a small museum with furnishings from the royal household and a section with simple technical experiments for the education of visitors. Part of the system is called "Saheliyon Ki Badi", which means that this system can also be found on the Internet under Sahelion Ki Badi.
Museums
- City Palace Museum. The city palace was the residence of the Maharana. The City Palace Museum is located in the same building complex. Both are located on a hill on the southern shore of Lake Pichola. In the area of the palace is also the Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel, which supplies the restaurant in the forecourt of the museum with excellent Indian dishes. If you have time, a magical place. You can calmly watch the visitors pouring into the museum through the visitor entrance. The tickets themselves can be bought outside the palace. You are not allowed to take a camera into the museum without permission to take photos. The City Palace Museum mainly shows three groups of exhibits. living rooms from the time when this part of the palace was still inhabited. Paintings or their reproductions depicting key events in the history of the Maharana of Udaipur. Hindu motifs, partly as paintings (e.g. Radha (probably) and Krishna, partly as part of the architecture. In addition, the architecture of the palace itself with the representations of non-religious content.
Hotel restaurant in front of the museum entrance
Living space in the City Palace Museum
Maharana Pratap
Ganesha near the museum entrance
Figure of foreigners on the outer wall of the City Palace Museum
Radha and Krishna. Wall painting in the City Palace Museum
- 5 Bagore Ki Haveli (बागोर की हवेली).A city palace (Haveli) formerly used by the ruling family, which today serves as a museum and as a performance venue for dance and puppet shows. The performances take place regularly in the evening at 7 a.m. The exhibits in the museum are mainly items of daily use and jewelry belonging to the manorial former residents, as well as paintings in the Mevar style. The entrance is on the left hand side as one walks from the city towards the Womens Ghat (Gangori Ghat; Gangauri Ghat).
Entrance. Left hand when walking towards the Gangori Ghat
Inner courtyard with access to the exhibition
Streets and squares
Parks
various
activities
- 1 Princess Trails horseback riding, hiking, night safaris. Tel.: 91 98290 42012, Email: [email protected]. An excellent alternative to the usual sightseeing and city strolls is a horse safari through the Udaipur hinterland. Riding safaris vary in length, you can go horse riding for 2 hours or 2 weeks with an overnight stay in tents. For most travelers, horse rides lasting 2-6 hours are ideal. The horses are mostly native Marwari horses, which are similar in appearance to Arabs, narrow and graceful. Unfortunately, there are not many providers who take good care of their horses. Many horses are thin and tied up in the shade of a tree day and night. An exception in Udaipur is Princess Trails. This provider has about 10 horses of his own and keeps them on large pastures and in spacious paddocks on a farm about 8 km outside Udaipur. The owners breed Marwari horses and therefore have above all the best horse material and always foals and young horses. The horses are all well fed and well cared for. Princess Trails has horses for beginners as well as advanced riders. The price includes the transfer from the hotel and back, so they are not cheap, but inexpensive. Here you can really feel at home as a rider and horse lover. In addition to short rides (2 hours, half day and day), the company offers riding safaris of various lengths. You will spend the night in a tent in the middle of the Indian bush, certainly a great experience. Virendra Singh Shaktawat organizes hikes through the Udaipur area with a visit to a tribal village, around Chittorgarh or through the Kumbhalgarh National Park. He also organizes night safaris from 2 people in the jeep. The safaris last about 4-5 hours. Nocturnal animals such as Nilgai antelopes, foxes, porcupines, gazelles and, with luck, even leopards can be seen.
shop
kitchen
nightlife
accommodation
Cheap
- 1 Udai Niwas Hotel, 84 Gangaur Ghat Marg, Near Jagdish Temple Marg, 313001 Udaipur. Tel.: 91 294 2414303, Mobile: 91 74138 37999, Email: [email protected], [email protected]. The hotel is very centrally located near the Jagdish Temple and the Gangaur Ghat Marg. It has a rooftop restaurant and an internet café on the ground floor (₹ 40 / h).Price: around ₹ 600-1000.
medium
- 2 Mountain Ridge, Sisarma, SH 50, Udaipur, 313031. Tel.: 91 294 3291478. As the name suggests, the "Mountain Ridge" sits enthroned on the summit of a mountain ridge and offers an unrestricted all-round view of a gorgeous mountain panorama. The large garden offers a delightful mix of natural mountain vegetation, Ayurvedic trees and flowering shrubs, a swimming pool and a number of lovely, hidden niches in which to sit, read, dream and relax.
- 3 Hotel Sarovar, Pichola Lake, Hauman Ghat, Outside Chandpole, Cheerwa, Ambamata, Udaipur, 313001. Mobile: 91 84489 93643, Email: [email protected].
- 4 Jaiwana Haveli, 14 Lal Ghat, Near Jagdish Chowk, Udaipur, 313001. Tel.: 91 294 2411103, Mobile: 91 98290 05859, 91 99283 93339, 91 94141 68151, Fax: 91 294 2521252, Email: [email protected], [email protected]. This hotel has been refurbished. It offers a pleasant atmosphere, is clean and booking via the internet is reliable. Early booking is recommended, as it seems to be popular with individual travelers and small groups and was fully booked in March 2012, for example. The view from the roof terrace restaurant at breakfast over the Picholasee is terrific.Price: Double ₹ 4800 (plus 12% GST tax).Accepted payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club.
- 5 Hotel Fateh Garh, Sisarma-Bujra Road, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 313001 (7 km west of the city in the Aravalli Mountains). Mobile: 91 86969 45101, 91 86969 45102, 91 86969 45103, 91 86969 45104, 91 86969 45109, Email: [email protected].instagram url used
Check-in: 12 noon.Check-out: 10 a.m.
Upscale
- 6 Lake Palace Hotel (लेक पैलेस), P.O. Box No. 5, Lake Pichola, Udaipur, 313001 (in the middle of the Pichola lake). Tel.: 91 294 2428800, Email: [email protected].The hotel in a palace from the 18th century is probably the luxury hotel address in the city. It was also used as the setting for the James Bond film Octopussy, along with other locations in the city.Check-in: 2 p.m.Check-out: 12 noon.Price: from ₹ 16,000.Accepted payment methods: American Express, Diner's Club, Master Card, Visa, JCB International.
Learn
- In Udaipur, for strangers who stay in the city for a few days, Cooking classes offered.
- There are a large number of small galleries where the painters also work as gallery owners. Will be here too Painting courses offered. The paintings offered for sale in these galleries come partly from the painters, partly from painting schools. The subjects of the painting are exclusively traditional in the Mevari style. Mostly miniatures of simple to very high quality, whereby the criterion is above all the delicacy of the lines and the richness of detail at the limit of the visible. There are around ten quality levels according to which the prices are based. When buying, it is worthwhile to compare different works and take a close look. Having time to compare the miniatures before purchasing them also means getting closer to the oriental side of Indian art. The painters also enjoy showing inquisitive Europeans their art. This can be a remarkable learning curve. As an example, a section measuring 7 x 4 cm is shown from a miniature measuring 11.8 x 26.5 cm. The richness of detail and the precision of the lines can only be perceived in such an enlargement. That's why you usually get a magnifying glass when you visit the gallery.
Work
security
About two years ago there was a sexual assault against an English tourist in Udaipur.[outdated] This has seriously damaged tourism in Udaipur, according to a resident. Since then, the city administration has done everything to ensure the safety of tourists (and all people in Udaipur). I myself have not experienced any harassment or anything dangerous in Udaipur.
I stayed mainly in the old town and always walked, as everything interesting is easily accessible this way. In contrast to e.g. Jaipur, it is very pleasant to stroll in Udaipur. You are spoken to, but without being obtrusive. Even a few begging people are downright polite and hold back immediately, even if you don't give anything.
health
Practical advice
There are hardly any language problems in tourism, hotels and shopping. English is common and French and German are occasionally spoken well. In the case of rickshaws and taxis, the driver does not speak a foreign language and is dependent on an Indian with language skills for the mediation, the price agreement and the destination. Here you can already experience that this Indian shows a bit of rough behavior. But still remains within the tolerable range.
trips
Web links
- http://www.udaipurmc.org/ (en) - Official website of Udaipur
- udaipur.org.uk A website in English that provides comprehensive and factual information on all tourist issues relating to Udaipur.
- Udaipur on earthTV
