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With a number of beautiful and majestic towers and balconies over the lake, City Palace is known to the world as the largest palace of Udaipur, Rajasthan. The magnificent architectural beauty of this palace has managed to survive successfully till now with glory. In fact, it is one of the major attractions for the tourists of Udaipur. The main attraction of the Palace is definitely the beautiful panoramic view of the lake and its surrounding cities which can be best viewed from the top of it.
Another important fact about this palace is it has been built several times by numerous generations of its rulers, one after another. Every element built in this palace contains a strategy behind it, so the portico beauty of City Palace is more of a defensive structure.
Things to Do:
You can roam all through the day into the different structures built inside the City Palace which include –
• Gateways – Badi pol is the main entrance to the palace. This leads to the pol of Tripolia which allows the tourists to enter the north side of the palace.
• Amar Vilas – It is the highest court here. It has an elevated garden structure which lets the tourists enter the Badi Mahal. This Mughal style garden holds many fountains, arcades, towers, and terrace.
• Badi Mahal – Badi Mahal or garden palace is a great construction of natural rocks. It has a hall with miniature paintings and a swimming pool.
• Bhim Vilas – It is a gallery that includes various miniature paintings which all relate to the life of Radha and Krishna.
• Chini Chitrashala – It is the art-house of the palace which is decorated with Dutch and Chinese style tiles.
• Choti Chitrashali – This palace is filled with pictures and paintings of the 19th century and its earlier times.
• Durbar Hall – This hall room was sued for meetings and banquets. Maharana Fateh Singh built this Minto Hall. It holds luxurious interiors, chandeliers, portraits, etc.
• Fateh Prakash Palace – It is now a heritage hotel.
• Krishna Vilas – This chamber is filled with miniature pictures depicting the royal lifestyle.
• Lakshmi Vilas Chowk – This art gallery is filled with Mewar Paintings.
• Manak Mahal – It was the meeting hall of the Kings.
• Mor Chowk – Peacock Square is one of the inner courts of the palace. It is named after the three peacocks of the season – summer, winter and monsoon.
• Kanch ki Burj – Maharana Karan Singhji built this in the 16th century. The dome ceiling is made of glasses and mirrors.
• Rang Bhawan – It contains the royal treasure of the rulers.
• Sheesh Mahal – Maharani Ajabde built this palace of mirrors to see her own reflection.
• City Palace Museum – It is now open for the tourists. It holds the artifacts of the royal era.
History:
The City Palace, Udaipur has a similar age of the city itself, both made at the same time. But during the next 400 years, the administration took a deep interest in building and rebuilding it several times. during 568 AD, the land of the palace was the property of the Mewars. In the 16th century, Maharaja Uday Singh inherited the property. Later when the capital city Chittor of his reign was under war, he decided to move the capital of his kingdom somewhere nearby Lake Pichola. This is when City Palace became the new capital. He actually found this site when he was on hunting one day. The royal courtyard was the first structure made for the City Palace.
Maharaja Uday Singh II died during the construction of this palace, and his son then carried on the process. However, during the war of Haldighati, City Palace was owned by Mughal Samrat Akbar. Later, the Rajputs took back the ownership and continued its construction work once again. And, it continued until the 19th century, when the British came into India and captured the palace. But even during the British rule, the Rajputs constructed much-disguised structures inside the palace complex. After the independence of India, the ownership of City palace went into the hands of the Indian Government.
Architecture:
City Palace, Udaipur is situated on the top of the hill. The architecture of this palace shows a perfect fusion of Rajasthani and Mughal architecture style patterns. The palace structure is constructed on the east side of Lake Pichola. The geographical location of the palace is 598m above sea level. It was built in such a way that a panoramic view could be achieved by the approaching enemy soldiers. About 22 generations of the Rajputs built the entire palace and eleven smaller palaces inside its complex, which are all identical in their architectural patterns.
Materials used to build the palace structure were granite and marble. The interior of the palace is designed with marble works, silver works, inlay works, and murals. All the palaces inside the City Palace are connected with various corridors and chowks.
The palace contains zigzag-shaped courtyards which were built with the motive to restrain the quick advancement of the enemy troops.
Best Time to Visit:
October to March is the best time to visit Udaipur as this remains winter here.
How to Reach?
If you want to explore Udaipur in a majestic way, you can ride on some standard luxury trains of the nation including –
• Palace on wheels
• The heritage of India
• The Indian splendor
• Indian odyssey
Otherwise, you can take a flight to Dabok Airport, Udaipur. Various trains also reach Udaipur railway station from a range of cities in India. Else, ride on public or private bus transport to reach Udaipur via roadways.
FAQs and Information:
Today, a few palaces inside the main palace have turned into heritage hotels which also contain some craft shops, boutiques, etc.
If you want to spend a perfect holiday in a majestic environment, you must visit City Palace, Udaipur.
