City Palace, Udaipur is a palace complex in Udaipur, in the
Indian state Rajasthan. It was built by the Maharana Udai Singh as the capital
of the Sisodia Rajput clan in 1559, after he moved from Chittor. It is located
on the east bank of the Lake Pichola and has several palaces built within its
complex. Udaipur was the historic capital of the former kingdom of Mewar in the
Rajputana Agency and its last capital.
Udaipur city
The city Palace was built concurrently with establishment
of the Udaipur city by Maharana Udai Singh II, in 1559 and his successor
Maharanas over a period of the next 300 years. It is considered the largest
royal complex in Rajasthan and is replete with history. Founding of the city
and building of the palace complex cannot be looked in isolation as the
Maharanas lived and administered their kingdom from this palace.
Prior to moving their capital from Chittor to Udaipur,
the Mewar kingdom had flourished initially in Nagda (30 kilometres (19 mi) to
the north of Udaipur), established in 568 AD by Guhil, the first Mewar
Maharana. In the 8th century, the capital was moved to Chittor, a hill top fort
from where the Sisodias ruled for 80 years. Maharana Udai Singh II inherited
the Mewar kingdom at Chittor in 1537 but by that time there were signs of
losing control of the fort in wars with the Mughals. Udai Singh II, therefore,
chose the site near Lake Pichola for his new kingdom because the location was
well protected on all sides by forests, lakes and the Aravalli hills. He had
chosen this site for his new capital, much before the sacking of Chittor by
Emperor Akbar, on the advice of a hermit he had met during one of his hunting
expeditions.
At his capital Chittor, Maharana Udai Singh soon faced
defeat at the hands of Mughal Emperor Akbar. He soon moved to Udaipur to the
chosen location to establish his ne w capital. The earliest royal structure he
built here was the Royal courtyard or 'Rai Angan', which was the beginning of
the building of the City Palace complex, at the place where the hermit had
advised Maharana to build his Capital.
After Udai Singh’s death in 1572, his son Maharana Pratap
took the reins of power at Udaipur. He was successful in defeating Akbar at the
battle of Haldighati in 1576 and thereafter Udaipur was peaceful for quite some
years. With this, prosperity of Udaipur ensued, palaces were built on the shore
and in the midst of the Pichola lake. Concurrently art, particularly miniature
painting, also flourished.
But in 1736, the marauding Marathas attacked Udaipur and
by the end of the century the Mewar state was in dire straits and in ruins.
However, the British came to Mewar’s rescue in the 19th century and soon the
State of Mewar got re-established and prospered under British protection, under
a treaty signed with the British. However, the British were not allowed to
replace them. Once India got
independence in 1947, the Mewar Kingdom, along with other princely states of Rajasthan, merged with the Democratic India, in 1949. The Mewar Kings subsequently also lost their special royal privileges and titles. However, the successor Maharanas have enjoyed the trust of their people and also retained their ownership of the palaces in Udaipur. They are now running the palaces by creating a trust, called the Mewar Trust, with the income generated from tourism and the heritage hotels that they have established in some of their palaces. With the fund so generated they are running charitable hospitals, educational institutions and promoting the cause of environmental preservation.
(Lake Palace (formerly known as Jag Niwas) is a luxury
hotel, of 83 rooms and suites featuring white marble walls, located on a
natural foundation of 4 acres (16,000 m2) rock on the Jag Niwas island in Lake
Pichola, Udaipur, India. The hotel operates a boat which transports guests to the
hotel from a jetty at the City Palace. It has been voted as the most romantic
hotel in India.)
Night view of lake pichola, Udaipur
Lake Pichola, is an artificial fresh water lake, created in the year 1362
AD, named after the nearby Picholi village. It is one of the several
contiguous lakes, and developed over the last few centuries in and around the
famous Udaipur city. The lakes around Udaipur were primarily created by
building dams to meet the drinking water and irrigation needs of the city and
its neighborhood. Two islands, Jag Niwas and Jag Mandir are located within
Pichola Lake, and have been developed with several palaces to provide views of
the lake.
Photo/2009
Text: Wikipedia
INDRoad Delhi to Udaipur - (NH 8, NH 79) 688Km
