City Palace Udaipur

¤ Foundation of City Palace

Maharana Udai Singh established his new capital, Udaipur in 1559 when he built the small City Palace on an overlooking ridge. Other buildings and structures soon mushroomed around the palace. Successive maharanas added to the marble and granite palace of Udai Singh, and the City Palace spread itself allowing an architectural and artistic evolution of Mewar through the centuries. The Palace is flanked by octagonal corner towers surmounted by cupolas and thus is a fine blend of Rajput and Mughal styles of architecture.


¤ The Gateways To City Palace

The City Palace, one of the largest palaces in the world, can be approached through the Bari Pol or the Great Gate (1600) with the royal drums and then onto the Tripolia Gate (1725). The Tripolia is a triple gate made of marble arches. Between these two gates are eight carved toranas or archways under which the maharanas were weighed against gold and silver which was later distributed to the poor subjects. Popular entertainment like elephant fights took place in the court beyond the Tripolia Gate.

In size and outline the City Palace and its subsidiary palaces bear a resemblanceto theWindsor castle in England. The palace lies in front of the Rai Angan, a rectangular courtyard. The Rai Angan (1571) or the royal courtyard is arrived at through the Ganesh Deori Gate and encloses the shrine to Dhuni Mata. The Ganesh Deori was built in an enclosure around the stairway of Rai Angan. In its construction went in tiles imported from Japan, and they form a spectacular pattern depicting images of Lord Krishna and Ganesh.


¤ The Legendary Romantic Tales Associated with The Palace

The famous antiquarian Ferguson has said that the City Palace complex is the largest in Rajasthan, which means that no palace can really intimidate this one in terms of size. This ancestral palace of the Mewar rulers has some heart wrenching as well as frightful stories attached to it. It is said the spirit of princess Krishna Kumari resides in one of the rooms of the palace. The 16 year old princess was betrothed to Maharaja Man Singh of Jodhpur but had fallen in love with the young Jagat Singh, the Jaipur prince.

This started a war between the three kingdoms and the princess decided to sacrifice her life in order to prevent bloodshed. On the advice of Amir Khan, a leader of the Pindaras, she took poison and now her sad and lonely spirit drifts around in the Krishna Vilas and various other apartments of the palace. Col. James Tod writes that the lethal dose had to be prepared thrice because the poison failed to kill her. Finally, she asked for the opiate extract of poppy blossoms and embraced death. Her heartbroken mother died soon after, and her father had her room frescoed in her memory.


¤ The Interiors of the Palace

Each part of the palace was built in a different style, either Mughal or Rajput. The balconies are in Rajput style with miniature paintings on the walls and coloured glass, topped in gold. Inside the palace are various annexes including the Suraj Gokhada, Bada Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Bhim Vilas, and the Mor Chowk. The Suraj Gokhada is the balcony from where the Ranas have daily been greeting their ancestor, the Sun god Surya, at dawn. The balcony was also used when the Rana presented himself in times of trouble to restore the confidence of his subjects and to reassure them that the Surya was still smiling on them.


¤ The magnificent Palaces

The Sheesh Mahal has inlaid mirrors while the Krishna Vilas has painted miniatures. Raja Bheem Singh installed these in 1805, in memory of his daughter Krishna Kumari who had committed suicide. (See Krishna Vilas for more details). The Zenana Mahal, Fateh Prakash and the Durbar Hall are the other wings of the palace. The Zenana Mahal (women’s quarters) is towards the south of the city palace museum and was built in 1620 for the women of the royal harem of Maharana Karan Singh. This was a fortified private living quarter of the royal ladies and can be entered only through a well-guarded doorway. The Rang Bhavan or the jewellery room and the treasury of the state occupy the ground floor of the zenana. It also has shrines to Lord Krishna and Meera Bai, the Mewari princess. The Rang Bhavan opens into Laxmi Chowk (goddess Laxmi’s courtyard) that displays some of the finest miniature paintings of Mewar. The far end of this chowk is Osara (Courtyard of Ceremonies) which houses the royal palanquins, howdahs, trophies, trumpets and drums.


¤ Fateh Prakash Palace

Just next to the zenana is the Fateh Prakash Palace. This palace has eight rooms and is closed to visitors, as it is the residence of the present Maharana Mahendra Singh, who succeeded Bhagwant Singh in 1984. The Shambhu Niwas next to the Durbar Hall founded by Fateh Singh (1884-1930) and the rooms of the saint Kanwarji Bhai are also closed to the public.


¤ Choti Chitra Shali(A Royal Room)

The main rooms in the palace are the Choti Chitra Shali, Suraj Chopad (the Hall of the Sun), Pitam Niwas (Palace of Delight), Manak Mahal (Palace of Rubies), Moti Mahal (Palace of Pearls), Chini-ki-Chitra Shali, Dil Khusal Mahal and the Chandra Mahal (Moon Palace). The Manak Mahal was built in 1620 as a dining room has glass porcelain and the Moti Mahal also built in 1620 has mirrors and coloured glass on its walls. Near the Moti Mahal is the Bhim Vilas decorated with murals depicting the lore of Lord Krishna and Radha.


¤ The Interiors of The Royal Room

The Choti Chitra Shali is simply a court hall, beautifully ornamented and resplendent with mirror mosaics of peacocks. The Chini ki Chitra Shali (1711-34) is also a court but with a pavilion and has exquisite Dutch and Chinese tiles inlaid with lovely mirror work. The whole ambience is that of a beautiful blend of Rajput, Mughal and European styles.


¤ Dil Khusal Mahal

The Dil Khusal Mahal above the treasury is another palace that is fully covered with mirrorwork with a painted and gilt background. This palace has a suite of four 17th century rooms, including the Kanch-ki-Burj, with late 19th century grey and red mirrors. The Chitram-ki- Burj is decorated with 18th century murals portraying scenes of life. The Kanch ki Burj (Turret of Glass) was a 19th century improvisation of the Sheesh Mahal. The most unique of this room is that not only does it have mirrored ceiling and walls but also a decorative glass floor.


¤ Chandra Mahal

The Chandra Mahal is on the top of the old palace and commands a breathtaking view of the city as well as the surrounding countryside. The Chandra Mahal was built above the temple of Nau Chokhi Dhuni Mata, the earliest part of the palace. The temple has pictures of the four holiest of holy deities: Shri Nathji, Shri Eklingji, Shri Charbhujaji and Amba Mata. To cap it all is the Badi Mahal or the Garden Palace above them. The Badi Mahal, also known as Amar Mahal, is built in white marble stones and has beautiful flowerbeds, trees, ponds, fountains, latticed windows, arched pavilions and a reservoir. The reservoir used to be adorned quite decoratively for the pleasure of its patrons, the ranas. Built between 1699 and 1711, the palace garden is on a natural hill 27m above the rest of the palace making its ground floor rooms look as if they’re on the fourth floor. The swimming pool here has always played an important role during the annual Holi celebrations. To the west of the Tripolia Gate are the Karan Vilas (1620-28) and Khush Mahal


¤ The Karan Vilas- A Government Museum

The Karan Vilas now houses the Government Museum of Udaipur. Earlier known as the Victoria Hall Museum, it highlights the cultural legacy of Rajasthan through its vast collection of excavated items, inscriptions, sculptures, paintings and handicrafts. The inscriptions span from 2nd century BC to 17th century AD. The sculpture gallery extends over a huge hall and has some of the best specimens like the Indriya Matrika from Jagat (5th-6th century AD); Kumari Matrika from Kumbhalgarh; the head of Shiva from Kalyanpur and Jain Kuber from Bansi (8th century AD). However, the best collection here is of the 9000 miniature paintings belonging to the Mewar School from Maharana Jagat Singh’s (1628-1652) and Maharana Swaroop Singh’s (1842-1861) period. The Natural History section with models of animals is aptly called the Children’s Gallery. The museum also has a fine collection of bright and colourful Mewari turbans.

Timing : 1000 Hrs to 1630 Hrs
Closed : Friday and gazetted holidays.

¤ The Khush Mahal

The Khush Mahal is a splendid mid-19th century pleasure palace. It was built exclusively for the European guests of the Maharanas and has a quaint combination of European, Rajput and Mughal detailing. The palace is now used as the honeymoon suite in the City Palace Hotel.


¤ Palaces of Present Maharajas

The residential wings and palaces of the present Maharana known as Shambhu Niwas and Sajjan Niwas are connected to each other. To the north of the Shambhu Niwas is the Minto Hall, a large Durbar Hall built in the 19th century and named after the Viceroy Lord Minto. The Hall is enclosed by a rectangular gallery and has a beautiful balcony that leans out from the main building.


¤ Other Tourist Attractions in The Palace

Doodh Talai , Moti Magri and Sajjangarh Palace are some of the other interesting sites here for a tourist to visit. The Bharuji temple is also very near the Doodh Talai, in southern Udaipur. The Moti Magri overlooks the lake and has the Pratap Smarak, a statue of Maharana Pratap astride his favourite steed Chetak.


¤ City Palace Museum

The museum in the City Palace includes the Mor Chowk, the one with its extraordinary late 19th century peacock mosaics. The mosaic and enamel together give a resplendent display of peacocks depicting the three seasons. The enamelled peacock in lapis lazuli and other stones is about 2½ ft high and is set in a panel of ornamental leaf patterns. This is one of the most lavish examples of inlaywork very popular in Rajasthan. The chowk was built by Maharana Karan Singh as his new Durbar area. The peacocks to which the chowk owes its appellation were added 200 years later in the 19th century by Maharana Sajjan Singh. Above these mosaics is a superb series of figures from the mid-19th century, inlaid in glasswork on the outer walls of the Surya Prakash.


¤ Museum Treasures

The City Palace Museum was established in 1890 and is one of the earliest museums of the state. Its halls are filled with miniature paintings that provide a glimpse of the royal lifestyle of the maharanas of Mewar. Paintings of royal hunts, portraits and scenes of court life with kings and queens in all their finery fill the museum halls. Yards of the finest cotton, silken brocade and muslin over which are displayed the breathtaking necklaces, belts, rings, bracelets and anklets. The museum also houses the armour worn by Maharana Pratap Singh in his fight against Emperor Akbar and the war bugle and drums of Rana Sanga. The Palace Museum also displays the fake trunk that was used as the armour of Pratap’s horse Chetak. It was so designed that enemy horses would take it to be an elephant and think twice about attacking its rider, while enemy elephants would mistake it to be a baby elephant and thus hesitate to attack it.

Timings : 0930hrs to 1630 Hrs, closed on Sundays.

¤ Shambhu Niwas

During Maharana Shambhu Singh’s (1861-74) rule the Victorian styled Shambhu Prakash was added to the Jag Niwas Palace complex and later during his successor Sajjan Singh’s (1874-84) time the Sajjan Niwas Palace was completed. The Sajjan Niwas Palace is another delight to the eyes. It is crowded with highly decorated and marble-floored halls and coloured glass frescoes with animal motifs, a large glass bed, pools and fountains – everything that has given an ethnic feel to it.


¤ The Most Exquisite Architecture

During the 19th century European influences made their presence felt through the designs of palaces. Shambhu Niwas was one such structure that had deviated from the traditional Rajput style of architecture that was once strictly observed in Udaipur. Pierre Loti, a French writer, described the palace as "…modern, with European drawing-rooms, looking glasses, sideboards laden with silver, and billiard-rooms, appointments which we had been far from expecting to see in so indigenous a town."

The drawing room of the Shambhu Niwas was a splendid crystal suite throughly furnished with Belgian crystal furniture, a crystal throne, chairs, table, bed, cut glass punkha rods with their blue and purple fringes – a total riot of crystals. Later Maharana Fateh Singh (1884-1930) removed the crystal furniture to the newly constructed Shiv Niwas Palace. Fateh Singh himself did not live at Shambhu Niwas but his son’s successor Maharana Bhagwat Singh (1955-84) was in permanent residence there until his death in 1984. Later his son Shriji Arvind Singh restored the fading mansion to its former glory as his own princely residence.