Udaipur in India: City among the lakes

Udaipur, the famous City of Lakes, is the great city placed in the middle-west part of India. It offers many interesting tourist attractions as well as some interesting places. Welcome to the Udaipur travel guide, enjoy!

While I first got to the city of Udaipur I was so excited, because it's non-official name, City of Lakes, was so awesome! The city met my expectations, delighting me not only with its beautiful lakes but also with many great palaces and museums. Let's start our journey.

Udaipur Shiv Niwas Palace

Udaipur Shiv Niwas Palace is the place where some shots from the 1983s James Bond movie called Octopussy was filmed.

When you first see the Udaipur Shiv Niwas Palace you may think: wow, that's huge! And it is not surprising because its construction began in 1553 the whole complex was built over a period of nearly 400 years! The palace is in a flamboyant style and looks totally amazing, especially when you move away to photograph the whole complex. The Udaipur Shiv Niwas Palace is placed oh a hill and it's the largest and the most beautiful palace in the state of Rajasthan.

For me, a trip to Udaipur had to start by visiting this great palace I was read so much about. When you will climb the hill and walls you will see a magnificent panorama of the city and surroundings.

Jagdish Temple

Our next stop is Jagdish, the huge Hindu temple that can be found just outside of Udaipur Shiv Niwas Palace in the middle of Udaipur, Rajasthan. It's a great and very popular tourist attraction and a great example of Hindu Iconography and the biggest temple in the city. It was built by Maharana Jagat Singh in the middle of 17th century.

To get to the temple, we will have to climb 32 marble steps - not too much effort and really worth to get inside. It's decorated with awesome ornate carvings, you can find here also three stories of hand-carved stone with a steeple nearly 79 feet high. Whole Jagdish Temple in Udaipur looks really great and it's really worth to visit it.

Lake Pichola with the island palaces

Lake Pichola can be found near the Udaipur city and its name comes from nearby Picholi village. It's one of the lakes in the area but for me the most beautiful one. It was created by men in the 14th century to provide drinking water to the city. There are a few islands on the lake: Mohan Mandir, Arsi Vilas, Jag Mandir, and Jag Niwas.

Mohan Mandir is a small island located in the north-east part of the Pichola lake from where the India King would watch the annual Gangaur festival. Arsi Vilas is also a tiny island with a small palace build by maharanas to enjoy watching the sunset.

Jag Niwas is the most famous island where the "Lake Palace" can be found. It's a luxury hotel built in the 18th century under the direction of the Maharana Jagat Singh II. This is so beautiful place that I could live in it (but also very expensive :-)).

The last island is called Jag Mandir, where another palace ("Lake Garden Palace") can be found. It was built in the 16th century to honor the last named Maharana Jagat Singh. All of those islands can be accessed by boats,  which I recommend you a lot.

Ahar village

To get to the Agar village (and the Ahar Museum itself), you will need to walk more than 3 kilometers from Udaipur city center (or you can get a bus, good luck :-)). The Ahar Village was an ancient settlement of the royal family.

Ahar Government Museum

The first thing I noticed was that there are not too many tourists here. The Ahar Government Museum may even seem closed, as there was nobody walk in and out from there. But once you will get inside you will see that it's a huge building with many different artifacts collections, where you can learn a lot of history of Udaipur. Another advantage of this place is that the entrance only costs 10 Indian Rupee.

Ahar Cenotaphs

Ahar Cenotaphs is located just before the Ahar Government Museum, on the left side of the road. You can find here about 300 cenotaphs, empty tombs created to honor people whose remains are somewhere else.

The whole complex of Ahar Cenotaphs looks really amazing, especially during the sunset, and I made here o lot of great photographies. It's a great tourist attraction and very interesting place. Since there are not too many tourists, but it doesn't mean it's not worth to visit it.

Monsoon Palace, Sajjan Garh

When you visit Udaipur in India, you probably cannot miss the huge mountain with fortifications on it. This is Monsoon Palace, called also Sajjan Garh. It was built it in 1884 by Maharana Sajjan Singh of the Mewar Dynasty.

The palace itself is not a piece of art and it's not so beautiful, but it offers extra views and panorama of the surroundings of the Udaipur city and all the lakes. This palace was also used in James Bond movie.

To get here, you will have to get taxi or rickshaw,  as it's far from the city (more than 5 kilometers plus climbing). But the views will undoubtedly reward you this effort, especially during the sunset.

Conclusion

I hope you liked this Udaipur travel guide in India, the city among the lakes. It's for sure one of the best destinations in India and if you have a chance, I would suggest spending here at least two or three days, as there are a lot of tourist attractions and interesting places here. If you enjoyed this article or want to ask me a question about Udaipur or India, feel free to leave me a comment in the section below.

Hey there! My name is Wojtek and I am very happy that you came to my travel blog. I've been traveling the world for a few good years now and I still want more.

On my website I describe the adventures that have happened to me, you will also find here a collection of valuable tips for tourists and travelers. If you liked this article, be sure to leave a comment and read some more!