A peek into the white city of Udaipur

The state of Rajasthan was one with several royal clans, 'Udaipur' is the city set up by Maharaja Udai Singh. The cities in the state are synonymous with the colour of the stone that is found. Udaipur has several mines of white marbles and limestones. Hence, it is referred to as the 'white city'.

View from the Lake Pichola

The life of the city is centered around Lake Pichola one of the seven manmade lakes in the city which is a main source of the water for the nearby areas.

The surrounding in and around lake Pichola is very vibrant and quite busy through the day. If you like to walk definitely recommend taking a stroll through the area. The autos, bikes and sometimes huge vehicles cram the areas so better to walk rather than be inside a vehicle waiting for your turn and subject yourself to the noise pollution from honking.

Shopping: There are shops with miniatures, clothes, silver jewelery, leather accessories, colourful bags and paintings. There are no standard pricing definitely you will find things to take home as gifts. Crafts, arts are followed as per lineage in the city and promoted by the kings so some of these shops belong to the artisans. Supporting these in a way will be providing revenue to the craftsmen and survival of these small shops. Most of the shops are open until late at least 9 pm.

Place to see: There are several places that maybe convenient to access with an auto, however, prices vary depending on time and distance. There is no fixed rate, one has to negotiate with the drivers might be best to calculate cost per km and the time you wish to spend on the road. Often times they will take you to allocated tourist locations, its best to do your homework on the places of interest, if they suggest something new look it up and decide.

I recommend:

City Palace Museum also offers boat ride* around the lake during the day and at sunset (Getting a guide for the museum will help you understand the history better). Boat ride takes you around and leaves you at the Gol mahal very beautiful open palace. Food court is available, mostly serving multi cuisine food. There is a garden not sure if it has activities in the evening. A perfect venue for open air musical performances.

Fateh Sagar Lake one of the larger man made lakes provides a good view of the city, boats take you to Nehru park and around the lake.

Aquarium not a very big place, few aquatic animals, several activities which have to be paid separately. A 3D photo space;Virtual reality adventure and sea experience highly recommended. Dont go with high expectation, the place needs some maintenance and vibrant ambience.

House of Folkart museum displays tribal folk art and some historical evidences with pictures. Interesting though many pictures, artefacts are not in the best shape with missing labels. Worth a visit especially for the puppet section. Though the puppet show is a 10 minute show every 20 minutes only song and dance does not provide a glimpse into the vibrant culture of the state.

Saheliyon ki Baari another beautiful garden with several fountains worth a visit to enjoy some green space with sound of water flowing. Several eating place around the area as well.

Badi Lake/Baahubali hill is another large manmade lake with a serene view from atop the hill. There is a small trek of 15 minutes which anyone can do and get to the top to see the lake from all sides. Slightly far from the city plan for an hour and a half journey.

Eating around the place I tried to find traditional foods and stuck to the variety of daal baati's made with different grains. It was hard to find any traditional healthy breakfasts and hotels were mostly serving western food.

View of the manmade lake from Bahubali Hill

A place not to miss if you are around in this part of the country. Walk it as much as you can to avoid getting stuck in the narrow lanes.

December, 2022