Gulab Bagh Udaipur
¤ An Imposing Garden
Sajjan Niwas garden or the Gulab Bagh with an area of 100 acres is
perhaps the biggest and best garden in India. Apart from the trees,
flowerbeds and a zoo, the garden also has a museum to boast of. The
museum, originally known as Victoria Hall Museum, was well known for
its collection of antiques and curios. It has now been shifted to
Karan Vilas Mahal within the City Palace complex. There is also a
public library attached to the garden, which has large volumes and
illustrated manuscripts on Indology, Archaeology, and History. The
museum, the library and a reading room are all located inside the
Victoria Hall. In the month of Shravan (Jul/Aug) a fair is held here
on every Monday.
¤ Ekling Garh or Machla Magra
A little distance away from the Sajjan Niwas Garden is a small fish
shaped hill better known as Ekling Garh or Machla Magra. At a height
of 2,469 feet above sea level, this place is attached to the walls of
Kishan Pol, one of the city gates. Once when the Scindias attacked
Udaipur in 1764, the hill was used as an ordnance dump. There are
still some pieces of cannons left as evidence of the military episode.
Later, guns were fired from this place, a sound that reverberated
through the city and even beyond it. They were fired everyday
precisely at midday and midnight – with no consideration of the
sleep of the subjects. The best thing about this hill is the fact that
it’ll give you an absolutely fabulous views of the Pichola Lake
as well the low-lying Udaipur City. |
