The Udaipur of today embodies ancient and modern architecture and culture making it the fascinating city that it is. Below the palace lies the beautiful, island studded Lake Pichola, whilst stretching downhill away from the palace to the North and East is the Old City; a maze of narrow, winding streets that hide many a wonder amongst the homes and shops of the local people. The famous sites of Udaipur include the palace complex, the lovely gardens of Sahelion-ki-Bari, Bagore-ki-Haveli, the splendid Jagdish Temple and Moti Magri by Fateh Sagar Lake. Just outside the city, the magnificent Royal Cenotaphs and Shilpgram Craft Village should also be on the agenda of any visitor to Udaipur.
However, the visitor should take time to break away from the herd and head off at random down one of the Old City lanes. The further you get away from the beaten tourist tracks, the more the sheep in you diminishes and the more the Dr. Livingstone materializes! You will catch a glimpse of the way of life here more than anywhere; children collecting water from a hand pump, the elderly folk chatting on a doorstep, children playing games with an old wheel or a stick, women threading flowers to make garlands or forming plates out of leaves, hawkers and merchants selling their wares. This fundamental view of Udaipur is the Udaipur of yesterday, today and tomorrow. This to me is the real, living Udaipur!
BAGORE-KI-HAVELI
As far as Udaipur’s waterfront facades go, Gangaur Ghat is one of the most elegant and noticeable, with its charming triple-arched gateway leading onto a broad lakeside piazza. What is not so well known and therefore not so well visited, is that to the side of this gateway there is one of the finest havelis (noble houses) in the city, Bagore-ki-Haveli; all the more splendid due to recent, extensive restoration work.
Shri Amarchand Badwa, who was the Prime Minister of Mewar from 1751 to 1778, throughout the reigns of Maharanas Pratap Singh II, Raj Singh II, Ari Singh, and Hamir Singh respectively, built this haveli. Following the death of Amarchand, the edifice came under the domain of the Mewari Royal Family and Bagor-ki-Haveli was occupied by Nath Singh, a relative of the then maharana.
Whenever kings of Mewar were left without a male heir of their own, they would search for a suitable noble boy to adopt; to groom as the future maharana, and Maharanas Sardar Singh, Shambhu Singh and Sajjan Singh all sprang from Bagore Thikana during the 19th Century.
In 1878, the natural father of Sajjan Singh, Maharaj Shakti Singh of Bagore extended the haveli and built the triple-arched gateway, and the property remained in the possession of Mewar State until 1947. After Independence, the Government of Rajasthan used the buildings for housing Government employees, but, as with other nationalised properties, where there was nobody with a vested interest in the standards of maintenance, damage and neglect went unchecked, and for almost forty years, the haveli’s condition deteriorated to a deplorable extent. The Government was eventually persuaded to relinquish their hold on the haveli and in 1986, it was handed over to the West Zone Cultural Centre.
Under the exacting supervision of the WZCC, plans were made for the dilapidated structure to undergo a process of faithful restoration. The work has been slow and precise, because, as with any ancient and intricate piece of art or architecture, hurried work results in expensive and sometimes devastating blunders. However the restoration & conservation is now virtually complete and this beautiful building has been returned to its original pristine glory. There are 138 rooms, as well as numerous corridors & balconies, courtyards and terraces. The Chambers of the Royal Ladies still bear fine frescoes of the Mewari style and there are glorious coloured-glass windows in some of the rooms as well as two peacocks made with coloured glass mosaics that display the superb skills of the finest craftsmanship.
Some of the chambers have been laid out with objects reflecting the original uses of those rooms. There are attractively presented displays in the durbar hall, music room, recreation room, pantry and kitchen (arranged to look as though the original inhabitants have just popped out for a while). There is even one room that apparently existed for the sole purpose as a den of lust! The erotic frescoes around the base of the walls were perhaps painted to spur on those who needed a little extra titillation. Other rooms have been utilised as more formal display areas – namely, a ‘turban’ exhibition and a display of colourful Mewari ladies costumes.
The largest palace complex of Rajasthan stands majestically on a hill surrounded by crenellated walls. Started by Udai Singh, this enormous edifice of 30.4 metres in height and 244 metres in length was subsequently built upon by later rulers.
The approach to this palace was through Hatipol, meaning ‘Elephant Gate’ and along the main street of the old city. Badapol, meaning the ‘Great Gate’, brings you to the first court, which leads to the three-arched Tripolia Gate. This impressive three-arched gate marks the spot where the rulers were weighed against gold or silver; the equivalent value of which was distributed to the poor.
Passing through the Tripolia, one enters the broad Manek Chowk; now laid out with gardens and fountains, but in the old days, it was just an expanse of dusty ground, where horses could be exercised. The vast and imposing edifice of the City Palace looms up on the right side of Manek Chowk – stables and outhouses were once to the left, but these have since been converted into boutiques. Passing the length of the chowk, one is faced with a set of gates straight ahead, beyond which is a walkway that leads to the Shiv Niwas Palace, the Fateh Prakash Palace and the maharana’s private residence; the Shambhu Vilas Palace. Also in this corner of the chowk, a huge gateway leads to a series of courtyards, with the Zenana Mahal to the left and the City Palace to the right. Entry to the zenana was traditionally restricted to the royal ladies, their children, their circle of female friends and their female servants. Men were not permitted to enter. Today this huge building has a new function; it contains exhibition halls and a museum concerned with the Royal House of Mewar and the history of Udaipur. The great courtyard serves frequently as a venue for lavish Royal parties.
The City Palace’s interior consists a warren of passages, terraces, courtyards, gardens and chambers: There is a ‘Suraj Gokhada’, ‘Balcony of the Sun’, where the Suravanshi (sons of the Sun God) Maharanas of Mewar presented themselves in times to trouble to the people so as to boost their morale. The ‘Mor Chowk’ (Peacock Courtyard) gets its name from the vivid mosaics in glass which decorate its walls. The Chini Chitrasala is noteworthy for it’s blue and white ceramics, while a series of wall paintings of Krishna can be seen in Bhim Vilas Palace. There are numerous other (sub) palaces – Dil Kush Mahal, Moti Mahal, Sheesh Mahal and Krishna Mahal. There are several fine collections, including a comprehensive weaponry.
