Udaipur City Guide
City Palace, the majestic white royal building towers itself on a hill and is surrounded by crenellated walls. A marble palace gently afloat in a lake surrounded by other impressive palaces
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.
