Lakes, palaces and the history make this place one of the most sought after tourist destinations
An honest probe would perhaps yield no answer.
We reached Udaipur at seven in the morning. Udaipur is known by different names- the City of Lakes, The White City and City of Palaces. Are these epithets enough to pay tribute to this historical city?
City Palace was the first sight of the city our group had. With the guide, we walked around the palace and heard stories for more than an hour. This palace was built by Maharana Udai Singh II and has magnificent glass work and lots of mesmerising paintings on the walls of the main rooms. Of all the rooms that we visited, the room of Maharan Pratap was the most impressive. It has a beautiful courtyard and the museum encapsulates the royal dynasty of Mewar.
The City Palace complex is located on the banks of Pichola Lake. There is a Lake Palace, built in 1746 by Jagat Sing, the ruler of Mewar. This palace appears to be suspended in water and floating out of the waters of Pichola Lake. It is claimed that the eight marble porticos of the palace, commonly referred to as Jagat Niwas mark the spot where the kings of Mewar were weighed in gold, equivalent of which was then distributed to the poor. The Lake Palace is a luxury hotel nowadays and has still maintained its grandeur.
There are two main bridges to cross the lake close to the palace. Once on the other side, we roamed on the streets and discovered a lot of hand-made leather bag shops and paintings. Pichwai traditional paintings, Phad paintings, silver and kundan jewellery, marble and wood handiworks were impressive. All of these available are available at Bada Bazaar, Hathi Pol and Chetak Point.
In terms of cuisine, Udaipur caters to people of varied tastes- from Indian dishes to Chinese, Continental and Western. I visited Ambrai restaurant at Amet Haveli. The food is really good and the view is unbeatable: over the Pichola Lake, with a panoramic terrace with views of Jagdish Temple, Gangaur Ghat, City Palace, Lake Palace, Jag Mandir and Sajjangarh Fort. As you can imagine, this view has a value so do not expect it to be a cheap place.
A truly taste of the region is available at Millets of Mewar, a niche restaurant in Udaipur located in Chandpole. In this health food restaurant, traditional and re-imagined recipes prepared from different varieties of millets are served. From rajma chawal to raw coconut ladoo, soups to salads, thai curries and multigrain pizzas were available with vegan, raw and gluten-free options.
The city is well connected with most of the important cities of the world via air, rail and road. Commuting within the city by auto rickshaws is convenient as the streets are narrow and one gets to see the nooks and corners of this Venice of East.