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Udaipur is famous around the world
as the City Of Lakes or Venice of The East. The Pichola Lake, Fateh Sagar,
Udai Sagar and Swaroop Sagar in this city are considered some of the most
beautiful lakes in the state. Fateh Sagar contains two small islands, one of
which contains USO, or Udaipur solar observatory, and the other one has a
beautiful garden called Nehru Garden. Udaipur is well connected to the
world through land, rail and air. It is known for its Rajput-era palaces.
Particularly famous is the Lake Palace, which entirely covers a small island
in the Pichola Lake. Many of the palaces have been converted into luxury
hotels. The City Palace, or the Palace of the then King of Mewar, is one of
the most beautiful places to visit in the city.
Udaipur is also home to the Udaipur Solar Observatory, one of the six
stations participating in the international Global Oscillations Network
Group (GONG) which is aimed at the determination of the physical properties
of the solar interior
Climate
The climate of Udaipur is tropical with the mercury staying between a
maximum of 42.3°C and a minimum of 28.8°C during summers. Winters are a
little cold with the maximum temperature rising to 28.8°C and the minimum
dipping to 2.5°C. The annual total rainfall received at Udaipur is 61 cm.
Winters (September-March) are the best period for visiting Udaipur.
Must Vist Places
City Palace - Standing on the east bank of lake Pichola, is
a massive series of palaces built at different times from 1559 A.D. The
balconies of the palace provide panoramic views of "Jag Niwas" (the world
wide famous Lake palace hotel), Jag Mandir on one side and on the other the
city of Udaipur. Its main entrance is through the triple-arched gate - the
Tripolia, built in 1725. The way now leads to a series of courtyards,
overlapping parations, terraces, corridors and gardens - a harmonic
profusion hard to describe. There is a Suraj Gokhda, where the maharanas of
Mewar presented themselves in the times of trouble to the people to restore
confidence. The Mor-chowk (Peacock courtyard), gets its name from the vivid
mosaics in glass decorating its walls. The chini chitrashala is noteworthy
while a series of wall paintings of Krishna are on display in Bhim Vilas.
There are numerous other palaces such as Dilkhush mahal, Sheesh mahal, Moti
mahal and Krishna vilas - in memory of a princess of striking beauty who
poisoned herself to avert a bloody battle for her hand by rival princess.
Now the palace contains many antique articles, paintings, decorative
furniture and utensils and attracts thousands of visitors every day.
Lake Palace - Originally known as the Jag Niwas, took three years to
build and was inaugurated in 1746. Nothing but marble is used in the
composition of this palace. It is now a luxury hotel.
Jag Mandir - Another island in the Lake Pichola, which is known for its
beautiful garden courtyard. Shah Jahan took refuge here while revolting
against his father.
City Palace and Museum - Pratap Museum, While entering the City palace
the straight way go to the Government Pratap Museum housed with old
sculptures and inscriptions. The antique paintings of Mewar, the turban of
prince Khurram later on called Shah Jahan,who built world famous Taj Mahal
has also been displayed here as a token of friendship of Maharana Khazan
Singh. Next to Fateh Prakash Palace, houses beautiful glass and mirror
works.
Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal - An excellent museum of folk arts. Also
hosts great puppet shows in its auditorium.
Maharana Pratap Memorial or Moti Magri: Atop the Moti Magri or Pearl
Hill, overlooking the Fateh Sagar Lake is the memorial of the Rajput hero
Maharana Pratap with a bronze statue of the Maharana astride his favourite
horse "Chetak". More details are available at Maharanapratap.net, a
fantastic colloction of facts and figures on Maharana Pratap and his life.
Sajjangarh Fort - The summer resort of the Maharajas is atop the hill
overlooking all the lakes. This palace had an ingenious way to collect rain
water for consumption all year around.
Sukhadia Circle - A landmark built on a traffic roundabout in Udaipur. It is
a three tiered fountain that is lit at night and is a popular place for the
locals in evenings.
Jagdish Temple - a Temple situated in the middle of the city - a big
tourist attraction,
The temple of Jagannath Rai, now called Jagdish-ji, is a major monument and
should be seen carefully. Raised on a tall terrace and completed in 1651, it
is a tribute alike to the tenacity of its builders and the resilence of the
art tradition it represents. It attaches a double storeyed Mandapa (hall) to
a double - storied, saandhara (that having a covered ambulatory) sanctum.
The mandapa has another storey tucked within its pyramidal samavarna (bell -
roof) while the hollow clustered spire over the sanctum contains two more,
non - functional stories. Lanes taking off from many of the sheharpanah
(city wall) converge on the Jagdish Temple and walking leisurely through
them brings you face with the many layers of the cultural palimpsest that
Udaipur is. It was built by Maharana Jagat Singh Ist in 1651 A.D. It is a
good example of Indo - Aryan architecture.
Fateh Sagar Lake- Lovers Paradise : Fateh Sager Lake is one of the
most romantic vicinity for young lovers, it is situated in the north of Lake
Picholas. It is the most peaceful and relaxing place to spend leisures for
much of the travellers and Udaipur localities . This beautiful Fateh Sager
Lake bestow with infinite beauty of the Aravali hills at the backdrop of
serene lake body. It was originally build by Maharana Jai Singh in the year
1678 AD, but later on reconstructed and extended by Maharana Fateh Singh, As
lot of destruction was caused, due to the heavy rains. Whereas, today Fateh
Sager Lake is the most preferable site for endless wanderers, the mornings
and evenings are very much refreshing around the lake, and in the middle of
lake, you can see a grand Nehru park, which is a popular garden island,
showcase an image of boat shaped cafe. The lake is one of the major
attractions of Udaipur, these are some real moments that you will going to
witness, once please your eyes with the precious sapphire of Udaipur.
Lake Pichola - The Sapphire Udaipur : Lake Pichola is one of the most
fascinating lakes, which has two islands, Jag Niwas and the Jag Mandir. This
beautiful shimmering lake is 4km long and 3 km wide, originally built by
Maharana Udai Singh II after he discovered the jewel of Rajasthan “Udaipur”.
There are many ghats, like the bathing and washing ghats, which can be
approached through boats from the City Palace of Udaipur (Bansi Ghat). In
the heart of lake, most delicate world marvel is built the Lake Palace which
is now converted into a heritage palace hotel. This captivating palace hotel
is considered to be 3 decades old in the history of Udaipur. The Lake
remains fairly shallow, at the time of heavy rains, and gets dry easily at
the time of severe drought. Once the island dries, it makes the best time to
take the leisure walk inside the most remote parts of Lake Pichola, where
one can sight row of crocodiles, which is none other a thrilling experience
for most of the enthusiastic travellers.
Factroid - "Do you know, Udaipur is a blessed soil of hermit, who advised
Maharana to establish his kingdom over Lake Pichola, after the fall of
Chittaurgarh by Mughal emperor Akbar."
Udaipur Solar Observatory- Asia's only one solar observatory, The
Udaipur Solar Observatory is situated on an island in the middle of the Lake
Fatehsagar (Location: 240 35.1' : 730 42.8' ) and the main office building
is located at its NW-shore near Bari Road - Rani Road Junction. The site is
run under PRL (Physical Reaserch Lab) in Ahemdabad. The sky conditions at
Udaipur are quite favourable for solar observations. The large water body
surrounding the telescopes decreases the amount of heating of the surface
layers. This decreases the turbulence in the air mass and thereby improves
the image quality and seeing. The main objective of obtaining the high
spatial and temporal resolution observations of solar photospheric and
chromospheric activity is to understand the various dynamic phenomena
occurring on the surface of the Sun.USO(UDAIPUR SOLAR OBSERVATORY) is one of
The six sites comprising the Global Oscillations Network Group Network in
World.
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