Udaipur -- the "White City"
The next day we set out for Udaipur, the last of the three cities we visited in our palace tours in Rajasthan -- also known as the White City. Our first stop outside the city was at a textile manufacturing facility that sold to visitors as as well as merchants throughout the world. We did buy some beautiful items.
Halfway to Udaipur, we passed by a 600 year old Jain Temple at Ranakpur. The temple was beautifully carved in marble with representations of their deities throughout. As we toured the temple with one of their resident monks, he pointed out that one out of 1,444 columns was tilted -- sort of like the Leaning Tower of Piza. He said that it was tilted intentionally to symbolize man's imperfection.
Halfway to Udaipur, we passed by a 600 year old Jain Temple at Ranakpur. The temple was beautifully carved in marble with representations of their deities throughout. As we toured the temple with one of their resident monks, he pointed out that one out of 1,444 columns was tilted -- sort of like the Leaning Tower of Piza. He said that it was tilted intentionally to symbolize man's imperfection.
Of three palaces in the city, we arrived at the City Palace in Udaipur that is divided into three parts – the first section is where the reigning King and his family live, another section has being turned into a hotel, and a third section is now a museum and can be toured. The main palace is stunningly situated alongside Lake Pichola, aka the "Summer Palace." The Winter Palace is located in the middle of the lake and the Monsoon Palace was built high upon a hill. As a point of interest, our guide told us that "one claim to fame" of this setting is that the James Bond movie "Octopussy” had several scenes shot here and on the lake.
The palace had the typical arrangement of meeting, sleeping, eating and entertaining rooms and courtyards, as well as photographs of elephant fighting bouts. The elephants gripped each other by their trunks and attempted – in a tug of war game -- to pull the other elephant over a low wall that divided them. This type of "sport" is now outlawed as it was very hurtful to the elephants, particularly their trunks.
We were told that one of the recent emperors was paralyzed from a polo horse match fall and spent the remainder of his life in a wheelchair. It was the first Palace to be made handicap accessible with an elevator lift and special living and bathroom designs. Also, the disabled king did not hesitate to meet the public and officials, and there were many pictures of him going about his Kingly duties.
We then drove to some lovely gardens in Udaipur that were used exclusively for the women of the royal court. They were designed around 5 fountains which inspired Lauren to burst into a moment of dance and frivolity.
The palace had the typical arrangement of meeting, sleeping, eating and entertaining rooms and courtyards, as well as photographs of elephant fighting bouts. The elephants gripped each other by their trunks and attempted – in a tug of war game -- to pull the other elephant over a low wall that divided them. This type of "sport" is now outlawed as it was very hurtful to the elephants, particularly their trunks.
We were told that one of the recent emperors was paralyzed from a polo horse match fall and spent the remainder of his life in a wheelchair. It was the first Palace to be made handicap accessible with an elevator lift and special living and bathroom designs. Also, the disabled king did not hesitate to meet the public and officials, and there were many pictures of him going about his Kingly duties.
We then drove to some lovely gardens in Udaipur that were used exclusively for the women of the royal court. They were designed around 5 fountains which inspired Lauren to burst into a moment of dance and frivolity.
Lauren wanted to take advantage of a photo opportunity being offered, so we dressed up in festive Rajasthanian garb and posed for the pictures shown in our next blog. Everyone got a big kick out of it and some of the young Indian girls came up and wanted their picture taken with us. It was a lot of fun.
We ended the day driving to our hotel in the dark, although we could tell that it was situated among gorgeous terrain in a remote area from the downtown. We had a delicious dinner and then took a well needed sleep, only to arise at 5 am for our morning flight to Mumbai – still in the dark. So it ended up that we never saw this hotel in full daylight. Now onward to Mumbai.
We ended the day driving to our hotel in the dark, although we could tell that it was situated among gorgeous terrain in a remote area from the downtown. We had a delicious dinner and then took a well needed sleep, only to arise at 5 am for our morning flight to Mumbai – still in the dark. So it ended up that we never saw this hotel in full daylight. Now onward to Mumbai.
No comments:
Post a Comment