City Palace, Udaipur

The splendid white City Palace in the stately city of Udaipur in Rajasthan was firstly constructed by Maharana Udai Singh of the Sisodia Rajput clan. The palace observed some expansion and was being taken to its present form by successive Maharanas. Superbly constructed in granite and marble and encircled by crenellated fort walls, the City Palace is the biggest palace complex in Rajasthan which stands tall on a tip along the Lake Pichola.

The City Place of Udaipur exhibits a fine blend of Medieval European and Chinese architecture with some exceptional buildings in the complex relishing their beauty, gardens and fountains. The 'Hati Pol' or the 'Elephant Gate' from the main road paves way for the entry to the palace complex. The ‘Great gate' on the extreme northern end takes travellers easily to the first courtyard ends in the ‘Tripolia or the 'Triple Gate’.

Eight engraved marble arches can be seen between the two gates that were used to weigh the rulers in the past against gold and silver, the total worth of which was then circulated to the needy ones and poor. Unlike the jagged interior, the inside part of the City Palace paves way for travellers to look at lots of enclosures with lavish apartments prevailed by balconies, gardens, colossal octagonal towers and cupolas.

Four main and quite a few minor palaces make up the City Palace. Frescoes and wall paintings mark the Palace of Joy with their perfect decoration knack. Moti Mahal, Sheesh Mahal and Krishna Mahal are other places worth seeing which get prolifically embellished with colours and paintings. The Mor Chowk for its inimitable peacock motif in mosaic; Bada Mahal with elevated natural rock formation; The Chini Chitrashala amid a rich assortment of Chinese porcelain; the Laxmi Vilas Chowk with its unique set of Mewar paintings are some of the sites to seen inside the City Palace, Udaipur.

Reaching the City Place, Udaipur
Getting to the City Place, Udaipur is easy as the city has well-linked transportation facilities from all parts of India.

Air: Indian Airlines offers daily flights to Jodhpur, Jaipur, Aurangabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

Rail: Udaipur is connected by rail with Delhi, Jaipur, Ajmer, Chittaur, Jodhpur and Ahmedabad.

Road: Udaipur is connected by National Highway No. 8 and gets to see bus services from the states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

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