City Palace Udaipur
About City Palace
City Palace, the majestic white royal building towers itself on a hill
and is surrounded by crenellated walls. The palace was completed in its
present form by the contribution of many rulers. Originally started by
Udai Singh, the later additions were so carefully planned and integrated
with the original building that it becomes difficult to believe that the
building was not conceived as a whole. The city palace stands along the
shores of Lake Pichola.
Architecture of the City Palace
The palace is overwhelmed with balconies, towers and cupolas and there
are fine views over the lake and the city from the upper terraces. The
interiors of City Palace presents a graceful beauty due to lavish use of
marble, mirror work, frescoes, wall paintings, colored glass, fluted
columns, inlay work and silver doors. There are many relics and
decorative items in the City Palace. There are beautiful examples of old
porcelain, glass and tiles as well as the wonderful mosaic of silver
leaves and precious stones that reflect images of the lake when looked
at from the right angle.
The City Palace is surrounded by walls for battlements. The entry to
the palace is from the Hathi Pol or the Elephant gate. The Bari Pol or
the Big gate brings you to the Tripolia, the Triple gate. It is a triple
arched gate which was built in 1725. It was once a custom that the
Maharana would weigh under this gate in gold and silver, which was
distributed to the populace. Balconies, cupolas and towers surmount the
palace which give a wonderful view of the Pichola lake. Suraj Gokhada or
the balcony of the sun is the place where the Maharana would grant
public audiences mainly to boost the morale of the people in difficult
times. The Mor Chowk is the peacock square and gains its name from the
vivid blue mosaic in glass of a peacock that decorates its walls. The
rooms of the palace are superbly decorated with mirror tiles and
paintings.
Interiors Of City Palace
The Zenana Mahal
The Zenana Mahal is situated south of the City Palace museum and was
built for the women of the royal harem of Maharana Karan Singh in 1620.
The fortified private living quarters of the ladies of the royal family
is entered through a well-guarded doorway. Within the walls are the
temples of the royal household, and each of the apartments are referred
to by romantic names, e.g. the Rang Mahal, the hall of colors, and Badal
Mahal, the palace of the clouds
The City Palace Museum
The City Palace museum is then entered through the Ganesh Deori meaning
the door of Lord Ganesh. This leads to the Rajya Angan, the royal
courtyard that is the very spot where Maharana Udai Singh met the sage
who told him to find a city here.
The rooms of the palace are superbly decorated with mirror tiles and
paintings. Manak Mahal or the Ruby Palace has a lovely collection of
glass and mirror work while Krishna Vilas display a rich collection of
miniature paintings. Moti Mahal or the pearl palace has beautiful mirror
work and the Chini Mahal has ornamental tiles all over.
The Surya Chopar
The Surya Chopar or the sun square depicts a huge ornamental sun
symbolising the sun dynasty to which the Mewar dynasty belongs. The Bari
Mahal is a central garden with view of the city. Some more beautiful
paintings can be seen in the Zenana Mahal or the ladies chamber, which
leads to Lakshmi Chowk a beautiful white pavilion.
