India Guide
Rajasthan
City Palace museum
Address: northeast side of Lake Pichola
Price: Rs50, camera Rs200, video Rs200, audioguide Rs250, guided tours Rs100–150
Opening time: Daily 9.30am–4.30pm
Udaipur's fascinating City Palace stands moulded in soft yellow stone beside the lake, its thick windowless base crowned with ornate turrets and cupolas. The largest royal complex in Rajasthan, the building comprises eleven different mahals (palaces) constructed by successive rulers over a period of three hundred years. Narrow low-roofed passages connect the different mahals and courtyards, creating a haphazard effect designed to prevent surprise intrusion by armed enemies – the layout of the whole complex is incredibly labyrinthine and confusing, although fortunately visitors are directed around a clearly signed one-way circuit, so your opportunities for getting lost are pretty limited.
The entrance to the museum is on the far side of the Moti Chowk courtyard (look out for the large portable tiger trap in the middle of the courtyard), past the palace's small armoury. Go in, past propitious statues of Ganesh and Lakshmi, and head upstairs to reach the first of the palace's myriad courtyards, the Rajya Angan. A room off on one side is devoted to the exploits of Pratap Singh, one of Udaipur's most famous military leaders. From here, steps lead up to pleasantly sylvan Badi Mahal (Garden Palace; also known as Amar Vilas after its creator, Amar Singh II, reigned 1695–1755), its main courtyard embellished with finely carved pillars and a marble pool and dotted with trees which flourish despite being built some 30m above ground level.
From the Badi Mahal, twisting steps lead down to the Dilkushal Mahal, whose rooms house a superb selection of paintings depicting festive events in the life of the Udaipur court and portraits of the maharanas, as well as the superb Kanch ki Burj, a tiny little chamber eye-catchingly walled with red zigzag mirrors.