city palace udaipur - Part I

The city Palace is the center piece of the Tourist attraction and is rich with the history of the region.  These are the regions which have been under constant attack by invaders and the way each battle has taught the rulers and the people of the kingdom to fortify themselves are very visible in the way the palace is built.

Coming from  Chittor Maharana Udai Singh after whom the city has been named as Udaipur built the palace in the year 1553 on the advice of an Sage whom he met during his hunting episode.

The palace is locatged on the shores of the picturesque Pichola Lake.   The entire palace has been built over a period of 400 years and is made of 3 floors.   There is an ancient lift which can take a person to the 2nd floor.   Here are the pictures of the Manek Chouk, which is also the place from which you view the Sound and Light show in the evening.   You can still see the pillars on to which the elephants were tied, the horse stables, etc.   There are also enclosures where the wild animals were kept caged too.   Going past these you can see the office of the current Maharaja.

All the collections from the tourists and the hotels that are owned and manged by the Royatly are split as 60-40.  With the 40% going towards the livelyhood of the Royals, the 60% goes to the trust which manages the philonthropic activies as well as the maintanence of the monuments.



Read through for the whole history collected from the web:

City Palace, Udaipur is a palace complex situated in the city of Udaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was built over a period of nearly 400 years, with contributions from several rulers of the Mewar dynasty. Its construction began in 1553, started by Maharana Udai Singh II of the Sisodia Rajput family as he shifted his capital from the erstwhile Chittor to the new found city of Udaipur.The palace is located on the east bank of Lake Pichola and has several palaces built within its complex.

The City Palace in Udaipur was built in a flamboyant style and is considered the largest of its type in the state of Rajasthan. It was built atop a hill, in a fusion of the Rajasthani and Mughal architectural styles, providing a panoramic view of the city and its surroundings. Overlooking Lake Pichola, several historic monuments like the Lake Palace, Jag Mandir, Jagdish Temple, Monsoon Palace, and Neemach Mata temple, are all in the vicinity of the palace complex. Nestled within the Aravali mountain range, these landmarks are associated in popular culture with the filming of the 1983 James Bond movie Octopussy.

History

The City Palace was built concurrently with the establishment of the Udaipur city by Maharana Udai Singh II and his successor Maharanas over a period of the next 400 years.The Maharanas lived and administered their kingdom from this palace, thereby making the palace complex an important historic landmark.

The Mewar kingdom  flourished initially in Nagda (30 kilometres  north of Udaipur), established in 568 AD by Guhil, the first Maharana of Mewar. In the 8th century, the capital was moved to Chittor, a hilltop fort from where the Sisodias and Choudharys ruled for 800 years. Maharana Uday 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 as 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.

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. The court was built at the location where the hermit had advised Maharana to build his new capital

After Udai Singh’s death in 1572, his son Maharana Pratap took the reins of power at Udaipur. However, he was defeated by the Mughal emperor Akbar at the Battle of Haldighati in 1576 and Udaipur fell under the Mughal rule. After the death of Akbar, Mewar was given back to Maharana Pratap's son and successor Amar Singh I by Jahangir.  However, the Mughal army sent many expeditions against the Mewar empire, culminating in a peace treaty between both rulers.

But with the increasing Marathas attacks by 1761, Udaipur and the Mewar state were in dire straits and in ruins. By 1818, Maharana Bhim Singh signed a treaty with the British accepting their protection against the other empires. After the Indian 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. The successive Maharanas, however, retained their ownership of the palaces in Udaipur and converted parts of the palace complex into heritage hotels.

The series of palaces in the city palace complex, behind an exquisite facade of 244 metres (801 ft) length and 30.4 metres (100 ft) height, were built on a ridge on the east of lake Pichola. The complex is located in Udaipur city at 24.576°N 73.68°E, which is set with an average elevation of 598 metres (1,962 ft). They were built over a long period, from 1559 onwards, by 22 generations of Sisodia Rajputs. Several Maharanas starting with Udai Singh II, have contributed to this edifice, which comprises an agglomeration of structures, including 11 small separate palaces. The unique aspect of this conglomeration is that the architectural design is distinctly homogeneous. The palace complex has been built entirely in granite and marble. The interiors of the palace complex with its balconies, towers and cupolas exhibit delicate mirror-work, marble-work, murals, wall paintings, silver-work, inlay-work and leftover of colored glass. The complex provides a view of the lake and the Udaipur city from its upper terraces

The palaces within the complex are interlinked through a number of chowks or quadrangles with zigzag corridors, planned in this fashion to avoid surprise attacks by enemies. Erected in the complex, after entering through the main Tripolia (triple) gate, are the Suraj Gokhda (public address facade), the Mor-chowk (Peacock courtyard), the Dilkhush Mahal (heart’s delight), the Surya Chopar, the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of glass and mirrors), the Moti Mahal (Palace of Pearls), the Krishna Vilas (named after Lord Krishna), Shambu Niwas (royal residence now), the Bhim Vilas, the Amar Vilas (with a raised garden) that faces the Badi Mahal (the big palace), the Fateprakash Palace and the Shiv Niwas Palace; the last two have been converted into heritage hotels. The complex is set with facilities of a post office, bank, travel agency, numerous craft shops and also an Indian boutique belonging to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The entire complex is the property of the Mewar royal family with various trusts maintaining the structures.

Structures within the complex

Gateways

Entrance gateway Badi Pol (left) to City Palace, Tripolia (Triple) Gate (centre), Hathi Pol (Elephant Gate) (right)

Gateways, colloquially called Pols, are set to the east of Udaipur city. A number of such gateways provide access to the palace complex.

The main entry from the city is through the 'Badi Pol' (Great Gate), which leads to the first courtyard. Badi Pol (built in 1600) leads to the ‘Tripolia Pol', a triple-arched gate built in 1725, which provides the northern entry. 

The road between this gate and the palace is lined with shops and kiosks owned by craftsmen, book-binders, miniature painters and textile dealers. Between these two gates, eight marble arches or Toranas are erected. It is said that the Maharanas used to be weighed here with gold and silver, which was then distributed among the local people. Following the Tripolia gate is an arena in front of the Toran Pol and the facade palace, the Manak Chowk, where elephant fights were staged in the past to test their prowess before starting on war campaigns.

The main block of the city palace is approached through a modest door from the Ganesha Deodhi terrace. The door is flanked by whitewashed walls vibrantly painted with martial animals in the traditional Rajput style. There is a big boulders in the entry where elephants were tied. This elephant parking have now became car parking.

Behind the entrance of Badi Pol there is a huge wall which was for the elephant fight. The elephant which touches the wall first would be considered weak elephant. Both elephants would pull each other in this fight.