City Palace, Udaipur

City Palace can rightly claim to be the pride of Udaipur. Towering over the magical, Lake Pichola, the beauty of City Palace is one that inspires the spectator. With a part of the palace complex serving as a museum and another part converted into a heritage hotel, the erstwhile royal palace now gladly welcomes more common visitors.

Place: Udaipur, Rajasthan

Significance: Largest place complex in Rajasthan

Best Season: October to March

Timing: Open 9.30 to 16.30 hrs.

About City Palace

The City Palace of Udaipur is one of the most remarkable constructions of the Rajput rulers of Rajasthan. Located in the heart of the city of Udaipur and towering over the Lake Pichola, the City Palace unfailingly infuses a sense of awe in the hearts of its onlookers. It is the standing testimony of Rajput passion for art and architecture despite the fact that the exterior is not as elegant as the interiors.The original construction of the palace was pioneered by Maharana Udai Singh of the Sisodia clan soon after he founded the city of Udaipur. Subsequent Maharanas added their own structures within the palace complex later, but interestingly there is no sign of any inconsistency in the overall appearance. Infact, the entire City Palace complex exudes a beautiful harmony and uniformity in its construction work. 

The old part of the palace complex today serves as a museum that stores the legacy of the Rajput rulers for the visitors. Two of the newer portion of the palace have been converted into hotels.

Inside the City Palace

The City Palace architecture reflects a wonderful blend of the European and Chinese archtecture. The palaces, courtyards and gardens inside the palace have all a distinctive charm of their own, though together they create even grander scene for the visitors. 

Built of granite and marble, the City Palace is entered through the Hati Polor the Elephant Gate. The Bada Pol and the Tripoli Gate follow soon. The Tripolia Gate is the same place where the the kings weighed themselves in gold and silver which was later distributed amongst the common people. This was a very popular customs in those days. 

Crossing the Tripolia Gate, a courtyard is entered where in earlier days elephant fights were staged. Within the palace complex there is Suraj Gokhada from where the king addressed a large number of his people, primarily during crisis. A beautiful palace, Moti Mahal, is breathtakingly beautiful with its exquisite mirror work. The name of the palace itself is an indication of the beauty that lies in store for the visitors. 

The main part of the palace complex today serves as the museum. Very close to the main entrance is a section where the armouries including the deadly two pronged sword is on display. The Mor Chowk has beautiful glass mosaics of peacocks set in wall highlighting three different seasons : summer, winter and monsoon. The Krishna Vilas has an amazing assemblage of paintings that showcases the varying events & moods of the life of Maharanas like during a royal procession, festivals and games. The Manak Mahal is yet another fantastic part of the City Palace complex where crystal and porcelain figures mesmerise the visitors. 

Bhim Vilas Palace has beautiful paintings of Radha and Krishna adorning its walls while the Zenana Mahal has beautiful frescoes as well as wall paintings to make it appear attractive. There is also the Dilkhush Mahal with similar charming interiors. 

The Chini Chitrashala exudes a classic beauty with its Chinese and Dutch ornamental tiles while the Sheesh Mahal beams with thousands of sparkling pieces of mirrors. The Laxmi Vilas Chowk is an art gallery showcasing a marvellous collection of Mewar paintings. 

The Amar Vilas is definitely not to be missed as it has beautiful hanging gardens with fountains, towers and terraces. From here, views of the Lake Pichola and the city of Udaipur itself is hugely magnificent. 

The Shiv Niwas Palace and the Fateh Prakash Palace have ben converted into luxury hotels. The Crystal Gallery at the Fateh Prakash Palace Hotel is a delight for everyone since it houses a rare collection of Oslers crystal items. Maharaja Sajjan Singh ordered these items from England, however, unfortunately he never lived to see his dream of possesing these exquisite pieces of work becoming true. After, his death, the crystal items, for long, remained in a store till the time they were finally brought out and displayed in the Fateh Prakash Crystal Gallery.

Deepest "Step Well" of the world - Chand Baori

In the village Abhaneri near Jaipur in Rajasthan, state of India you can find Chand Baori, a famous step well of the world. Chand Baori was built in 9th century by the King Raja Chand . This main features of the Chand Baori step well are

• 35 m wide each side 
  
• steps follows from the top to the bottom making it possible to draw water from the well from any height. 
  
• CandChand Baori has 13 stories, 3500 narrow steps and is 100 feet deep. 
  
• This step well is located opposite Harshat Mata Temple and 
  
• deepest and largest "step well" of the world.
  

Abhaneri is a small town village, situated at a distance of 95 km from Jaipur, on Jaipur-Agra road. The place is popular for the amazing 'Baoris' (step wells) and Harshat Mata Temple. Originally Abhaneri was named as Abha Nagri, which means the city of brightness, but due to mispronunciation of the term, it is changed to the present name.The village Abhaneri is believed to be built by the King Raja Chand and at present this city has many ruins of past. Temple of goddess is also present adjacent to the Chand Baori step well and is one of the attraction for tourists visiting Rajasthan.

Abhaneri is prominent for 'Baoris', which are the unique invention of the natives for harvesting rain water. Amongst the other step wells, Chand Baori is the most popular one. The huge tank with delicate carvings is certainly delightful to the eyes. 

These big tanks were used as cool places of resort and water reservoir in parched days. It was a ritual to wash hands and feet before visiting the temple. Adjoining the Chand Baori, there is a temple, dedicated to Harshat Mata. This temple serves as the other tourist attraction of Abhaneri. Raised during the 10th century, the wrecks of the temple still boast of the architectural and sculptural styles of ancient India. 

Harshat Mata is considered to be the goddess of joy and happiness. As per the beliefs, the goddess is always cheerful, who imparts her joy and happiness to the whole village. 

Legends say that ghosts build it in one night and that it has so many steps to make it impossible for someone to retrieve a coin once it’s been dropped in the well.

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Brihadeswara - World's First Granite Temple

The Brihadeswara temple is one of the most ancient Hindu temple in the world. The temple is located in the city of Thanjavur that is also known as Tanjore, in the Indian province of Tamilnadu. The UNESCO has adjudged this thousand years old temple a "World Heritage Site". This is the world’s first granite temple.

Dedicated to Lord Shiva , this magnificent temple was built in 1003 AD by the chola king Rajaraja I. Later various additions were made in the temple but the most prominent one among these was the addition of a copper pot over the tower by King Rajaraja Chola II. The temple, considered among the grandest temples of the Hindu religion is unique to itself. This South Indian Shiva temple has been built with the help of granite. Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of Lingam. The linga was brought from the river Narmada. It is said that the Linga when brought above the waters kept increasing day by day and hence, the name Brihadeswara was given to it.

The 'Vimana' of the temple is about 70 meters and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. The 'Shikharam' (crown) of Brihadeswara temple is itself very large and heavy (81.25 tons) and has been carved out of a single stone. There are three gopurams that mark the gateway of the Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur. These gopurams have their names: the Rajarajan-tiruvasal (the innermost gopuram), Keralantakan-tiruvasal (the middle gopuram) and the outermost one. These gateways, too, are built of the hard granite. While the inner and the middle gopurams were built with the temple, the outer one dates back to the Maratha period.

Another interesting little fact is that none of the stone used in the temple is "local" it was all brought in from over 60km away from the site. The work was done with help of elephants. The stones were actually fit together first and then carved smooth. Another detail worth noting is that there is no mortar in used anywhere. The stones are all carved to fit together perfectly. The lack of mortar is one of the reasons the temple is so well reserved.

Also to be found inside is the giant figure of Nandi, the bull of Lord shiva carved out of a single stone which is considered second largest in India after the one at Leepakshi. The structure is 13 feet high and 6 meters long. The Shiva Ganga tank is one of the sacred tank found in the temple courtyard. The mandapa or the hall has about 100 pillars all intricately designed and carved beautifully. Paintings have also been handsomely used to decorate the temple walls. Besides these the upper ambulatory shows lord Shiva in various dance postures.

There is also to be found an interesting Archaeological Museum which exhibits the ancient ruins and the temples restoration. It also gives a chance to look back in to the history of the Chola Empire. The 107 paragraph long inscription found on the walls of the Vimana reads the contributions of the chola king Rajaraja and his sister Kundavai to the Thanjavur temple.

Peoples throng to the temple premises from the wee hours of the morning lined up to have a glimpse of the Deity. The pujas can be offered till late evening. The whole atmosphere is filled with an aura of peace, respect and honour for Lord Shiva after visiting the place. Archanas, Abhishekam and Prasad offerings are a daily affair.

The Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur symbolises the summit of the Dravidian sculpture and architecture in its purest form: meticulous ideas and impeccable execution of the carved figures. Besides, the sculpture of Brihadeswara Temple also embodies the finest traditions of Tamil culture in the field of art and architecture.