Overview
- Main Attractions: City Palace, Lake Pichola, Ranakpur
- Best Time to Visit: Late October to early March
- Local Specialty: Lake Palaces
- Travelled By: Train, auto rickshaw, bus, private taxi, shared jeep
- Cost: $$
- Duration of Stay: 3 days
- Location: Rajasthan, India
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Summary
Udaipur, the city of lakes and palaces lives up to its expectations. It is a romantic city with its lake palaces, shimmering Pichola Lake and the purple ridges of the wooded Aravalli Hills stretching away in every direction. We got to experience its fantastical palaces, temples, havelis and countless narrow, crooked and colourful streets and we loved every minute of it.
Udaipur: Our Experience
16th November, 2013 (Day 1)
We arrived into Udaipur on a train from Ajmer (Pushkar) in the morning. It had been a fairly long journey; we left Ajmer at 1:00am and arrived at Udaipur around 6:45am. We were lucky enough to have our waitlisted train tickets confirmed at the last minute so we had comfortable AC three-tier sleeping berths on the train.
From the train station, we took an auto rickshaw to our hotel, Gangaur Palace located at Gangaur Ghat near Pichola Lake.
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After a lovely, hot shower, we headed down the street to find some breakfast. Being in the heart of town and in the tourist district, we found a helpful Indian man who showed us a local favourite for breakfast just around the corner from the Jagdish Temple.
So, we sat down in this small yet clean and neat shop; Graham ordered a couple of freshly made aloo samosas while I tried their poha.
Poha is a West Indian dish made from flattened rice. It makes for a delicious breakfast or brunch option. Poha is cooked with lightly fried mustard seeds, turmeric, chili powder, finely chopped onions and then moistened poha is added to the spicy mix and steamed for a few minutes.
I really liked this dish for breakfast or for a quick meal on the road, however Graham found it a little dry and flavourless.
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After breakfast, we wandered down to the southern bank of Pichola Lake for the early morning views over the lake. There were a few groups of tourists already there but life was only just stirring on the lake front. The views over Pichola Lake are beautiful any time of the day or night. In the early morning light with a touch of fog skimming the surface, the lake had a magical allure which was captivating. We could see Jag Mandir and Lake Palace in the distance like silhouettes in the fog.
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From the lake front, we took a leisurely walk to the City Palace nearby, perhaps the most visited and popular attraction in Udaipur.
City Palace Udaipur is a complex of palaces built by 22 Maharanas over a period of four centuries. Built on a hill top, it had a panoramic view of the city and its surroundings. The interiors of the palace complex with its balconies, towers and cupolas exhibit delicate mirror-work, marble-work, murals, wall paintings, silver-work, inlay-work and colored glass.
We spent about two to three hours wandering around the several palaces and museums within the City Palace complex.
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Around midday, we walked to Jagdish Temple Udaipur which is located in the City Palace complex. It is the largest Hindu temple in Udaipur and a big tourist attraction. Its intricately carved pillars and beautiful sculptures are fine examples of Indo-Aryan architecture.
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It was late afternoon by the time we finished at Jagdish Temple so we made our way across the lake to the other side of town. We had read good reviews about Queen Café Udaipur so we walked across the footbridge to the quaint, tiny café on the other side of the lake.
After lunch, we went on a walking tour around town to see Udaipur for what it really is – to discover the soul of the town.
Walking through the back streets of Udaipur gave us a very different perspective to what most people see on the surface – fantastical palaces, temples and havelis. The countless narrow, twisted, colourful streets add the human counterpoint to the city’s natural charm.
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Along one of the narrow streets we came across a man beating and welding brass pots into shape. A couple of doors down, there were a few more people washing and scrubbing the brass pots that had recently been made in the shop nearby. It was fascinating to watch the production line for brass pots in the back streets of Udaipur.
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Along another street we found a shop making gulab jamuns which is a popular Indian sweet. First, the round wheat and milk balls are fried in a large kadhai (Indian wok) filled with oil till the outer layer of the gulab jamun becomes a deep brown colour; the centre still remains soft and moist. Then, it is soaked in another kadhai filled with sugar syrup which gives it the sweet and sugary flavour.
Gulab jamuns are not healthy in any way whatsoever; however they’re really delicious and are very popular for that reason.
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We returned to Pichola Lake in the evening for a sunset ride along the lake and to visit Jag Mandir and Lake Palace. In the morning, we had seen this mysterious lake from the shore; this time we were taking a boat ride to get a close up view of the lake palaces and to glide over the lake and enjoy a romantic sunset.
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In the evening, we made our way to Bagore-ki-Haveli, a haveli located near Gangaur Ghat, Lake Pichola which has been converted to a museum.
At 7:00pm, the haveli gets transformed into a colourful stage for the performance of Dharohar Dance – a Rajasthani folk dance show. This is one of the best opportunities to watch a Rajasthani cultural show anywhere in Rajasthan. It is well organised and the setting within the haveli creates a wonderful backdrop for the dance show.
17th November, 2013 (Day 2)
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We woke up early this morning so we could catch the 8:00am government bus to Ranakpur which is located 91 kilometres (56 miles) from Udaipur. It was an affordable way to get to Ranakpur; it took 3 hours in the bus and cost us Rs 100 per person.
As non-Jains we were only allowed into the magnificent Jain temple complex at midday so that Jain pilgrims could pray and make their offerings in the temples without any interruption from tourist cameras.
While we waited for entry to the temple we walked around the complex to see the temple from outside. The Ranakpur temple complex is situated in a beautiful wilderness setting with forest trees on one side. Langurs and macaques were sitting on the fence that separates the temple complex from the Kumbalgarh wildlife sanctuary nearby.
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In the bus on the way to Ranakpur, a local guide had told us that they were serving lunch in the canteen located in the Ranakpur temple complex. It was Kartik Purnima that day, so when we got to the canteen we found that the lunch was actually free for everyone as part of the festival celebrations.
The lunch was a simple vegetarian thali which consisted of chanachur (salty snacks), vegetable wafers, rice, dal, matar masala (peas curry), sabji (fried vegetables), puris (puffed wheat breads), sweet boonda (small fried balls made from chick pea flour) and an Indian sweet.
While the lunch was simple, it was tasty, wholesome and very filling. More importantly, we were touched by the kindness of the Indian people to welcome us into their celebrations and share their festivities and lunch with us.
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One of five holy Jain sites and a popular pilgrimage centre, Ranakpur has one of the best-known and most spectacular Jain temple complexes in India. Of the three main temples in Ranakpur, Chaumukha Mandir (Four-Faced Temple) is the biggest and most noteworthy temple for its architectural splendour.
We spent a couple of hours wandering around the temple complex first admiring the architecture of the temples from the outside and then investigating the intricate stonework and carvings within the temples.
Instead of waiting for a bus to take us back to Udaipur we decided to take a shared jeep back to town. As we waited at the bus stop, a shared jeep pulled up and we asked the driver if we could take a ride back to Udaipur with the guys in the jeep. For Rs 150 per person, we thought this was a better option than taking the bus; it saved us an hour on our journey back to Udaipur.
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By the time we got back to Udaipur, it was nearly 5:00pm. We had made a booking to take a shared taxi in front of Bagore-ki-Haveli to visit Monsoon Palace to watch the sunset. The road leading up to Monsoon Palace is long and winding as the palace is situated on top of a hill. When we got to the palace we found a lot of monkeys sitting at the viewing area and they were a big distraction for the crowd that has already packed in to watch the sunset.
This is clearly the best spot in Udaipur to watch the sunset with the Aravalli hills in the distance. The view of the sun setting over Udaipur city down below with the Aravalli hills in the background is truly spectacular.
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It was after dark by the time we got back from our visit to the Monsoon Palace. We headed out to find a dinner spot at one of the many cafés in the tourist area of Udaipur city. We chose Lotus Café Udaipur because we really liked the chic interiors and uplifting décor. The reviews for their chicken dishes were pretty good too.
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It was Kartik Purnima that day/night, a Hindu festival to celebrate the first full moon of the Hindu calendar. On this day, it is considered auspicious for married women to fast with prayers and offerings being made to the full moon in order to secure health and prosperity for their husbands.
The festival was being celebrated at Gangaur Ghat on the southern banks of Pichola Lake. After dinner at Lotus Cafe, we made our way to Gangaur Ghat to watch the women making diyas (oil lamps) and floating them on the lake with their flower offerings.
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As part of the celebrations, they had cooked a wonderful dinner and everyone was invited to participate in the celebrations. We had been invited by many local people we had met during the day so we took part in the celebrations by having some of the delicious food that was prepared.
They had made a variation of dal batti churma, a popular Rajasthani specialty made during celebrations and festivals. There was also a delicious combination of rice and spicy vegetable pickle that provided a lovely contrast to the subtle flavours of the dal batti churma.
After our second dinner, we wandered around watching the celebrations. A stage was set up for the festival where several skits and music performances were being held. It was an enjoyable way to end our second day in Udaipur.
18th November, 2013 (Day 3)
This morning turned out to be a lazy one for us as we woke up late and set off at 10:00am. We were leaving for Mount Abu later that afternoon so we had packed and checked out of our hotel before leaving for our last day of sightseeing in Udaipur.
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We jumped into an auto rickshaw and headed over to the Vintage Car Museum Udaipur located in Garden Hotel and Restaurant in Garden Road. The Vintage and Classic Car Collection is a collection of 22 antique cars collected by the Maharanas of Udaipur, past and present. Being avid car enthusiasts, we spent the morning admiring and checking out the details of the four Rolls Royce’s and other vintage cars on display at the museum.
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On our way back from the Vintage Car Museum, we were fortunate enough to witnesss a Rajasthani wedding. Indian weddings are very different to Western weddings especially so in Rajasthan.
The wedding procession begins with the groom riding on a horse which is adorned with colourful decorations, while the bride comes behind him in a golden chariot. Behind them comes a marching band playing drums and blowing horns in a musical crescendo while family and friends of the bride and groom dance at the back of the queue.
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As we waited outside the temple where the bride and groom were getting married, we only got to see the groom ride out on the horse; the bride was still inside so we didn’t get to see her. We did see the wedding party dressed in their finery dancing at the side of the street which was hugely entertaining.
It was a wonderful surprise to witness part of an Indian wedding celebration on the streets of Udaipur and something we will remember for a long time.
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Before we left Udaipur, we decided to have a second lunch at Queen Café Udaipur, our favourite restaurant in Udaipur. We really liked the food at this café so we wanted to try a few other dishes that caught our attention during our first visit there.
After lunch, we returned to our hotel so we could pick up our bags and head to the bus station. At 3:30pm we were on a private bus headed for Mount Abu, the only hill station in Rajasthan.
