Udaipur – 12th to the 14th March

The self-proclaimed city of lakes. Also known as the most romantic city in India. Needless to say there were lakes, unfortunately no romance to report. Unless you consider my increasingly unhealthy relationship with thalis romance.

Udaipur is one of the three [main] cities of Rajasthan. Jaipur, which I visited the other day (with the world’s biggest sundial), is also in the three; sadly I don’t have time (or well I’m choosing not) to complete the full set. Simply because the scale of India is beginning to settle in, 6 weeks to see India is similar to having 50-100 houseplants in a small flat. It’s nowhere near enough.

Some prioritisation will need to happen indeed. Pune is the first destination I think I’ll be cutting from the itinerary. In favour of a speedier trip south through Goa and to Kerala. I’m hoping I can get in and out of the south before the weather heats up too much more. Currently we’re averaging low thirties and the thought of much higher is deeply concerning – to me and the ever longer mop on my head! Although I’ve heard the south has a very chill vibe (somewhat hippie-esque in places) which does sound very appealing, so I doubt I’ll be rushing north.

Anyway, back to Udaipur and it’s lakes. The most surprising fact I have is all of its lakes are artificial. WIth construction dating back to the 1500’s using a dam and a huge canal to supply water to the lake and the then budding city. Further lakes were constructed with additional canals – and now Udaipur is sometimes referred to as Venice of the East.

As usual there is a story about how the city location was chosen. This one involves the king hunting in the hills, when he meets a hermit who shows him the spot and tells him it’s well protected. Sadly I don’t have more details, but I can confirm it’s well defended with mountains and forests near enough on all sides.

Historically quite significant also, Udaipur was the capital for the Mewar Kingdom. Whom appeared to have reasonable military success fending off the presumably more powerful Moghuls. As usual with me the details are nailed down to a T.

A favourite bit of this city visit is difficult to pin down. So I wont, instead here are a few of the best bits:

Firstly, the hostel I stayed in was beautiful! I arrived at 4am, upon seeing no one was at reception I opted to simply have a kip on the sofa until someone woke me up, which they did around 5 and gave me a much welcomed bed. When I actually saw the hostel the next day, it was a tall tower complex of fairly open nature focused around a central ‘well’. The top three(ish) floors opened out with views across the lake(s), to the City Palace, the Royal Palace (which sits within the lake), and the mountains. They also provided yoga mats which became a nice morning activity before the day heated up too much. Also my dorm had both AC and fans – love that energy. I must omit, none of the above drew me to the hostel; I booked it nearly immediately seeing it also had a pool table. And I didn’t end up playing much in the end.

Then the City Palace was arguably the best single tourist site I’ve been to in India. Granted not as impressive as the Taj Mahal, but beats it hands down on value for money. A huge palace / fort complex developed over nearly 400 years. Now, it being a fort / palace meant it was grand housing for the royals but built in such a way it was difficult to attack. In practical terms this meant navigating the palace was through small (narrow) corridors, with very low doorways. Meaning attackers would need to duck exposing their heads when pressing through the palace. You’ll likely see where this is going and yes I hit my head repeatedly. Three times as well! This did feel like kinda two too many but whatever.

Proceeding through the long corridors, rooms and courtyards of increasing granditude revealed themselves. Across Rajasthan the use of colour is prevalent, the palace was no exception. In fact housing a real interesting mix of coloured glass. Some in ornate windows as you would expect, but then others in weirdly modernist shapes. Not to mention the various rooms filled with mirrors – no idea what they were for, but cool.

Once I’d been around the palace, it was time for the various museums within the site. One on arms and armour, one just on silverware (not cutlery but thrones and carriages etc made of solid silver), a sculpture gallery, and finally one on watercolour paintings of the palace itself. This one I loved as a sucker for a watercolors, however I was surprised when all of the paintings were done by the same bloke. But fair play bet that was a hell of a commission (it must have been 30+ paintings).

Thirdly I’ll mention the lakes. Swallowing the usual bitter tourist price pill (a mere 3x hike so not too bad), I took a cruise around the lake. Not to blow my own trumpet but I timed that to perfection taking to the lake at the beginnings of sunset. Not too much to say here, it was a boat tour round the lake – highly enjoyable.

Finally, I’ll mention the Dharohar Folk Dance show which my hostel said was a ‘must see.’ And they were spot on, I’ve never seen anything like it, at times intriguing, at times beautiful, and at times utterly gripping. The show was set in an old courtyard of a now museum, sheltered by a lovely tree in the middle. A small band set up, with two percussionists and one singer / shruti box player (think an accordion on legs with a bellow at the back instead of the whole clappy clappy motion). The show comprised of: a handful of traditional dances, which really showed off the bright and sparkingling sarees; a short puppet show; an ‘historical’ reenactment of someone meeting and fighting this god-type guy riding what I think was a lion but on reflection more likely a tiger who was played by a guy on his hands and knees moving in-sync with his god-rider – a genuinely powerful performance; and then the finalee – a solo final dance with a woman balancing pots on her head.

Now that may sound underwhelming, but this was full of twists, turns and impressive feats. The dance performed was a tradition from when the women returned successfully with water for the family balanced in pots on their heads. Anyway, she started by balancing two very large pots on her head, were talking the largest being maybe a 15l pot here – although I don’t claim to be an authority on the volume of pots. Then the dance started and it entailed a gracefully running in a circle at speed without dropping the pots motion, as well as other leans and spins. Now, shit got real when three additional pots appeared from left stage, easily taking the stack of pots to over a metre. Once added to the stack she continued the dance. At this point I was already extremely whelmed. But it was time to raise the stakes of the show. A blanket was placed on the floor and subsequently covered in broken glass. Now I have no idea what if any significance this had, if I’m honest it felt unnecessary, maybe it was symbolic. However with 5 pots still on her head she mounted the glass – you could hear the glass crunching beneath her feet. If that wasn’t enough she then started to dance again – pots and all! By this point I was reaching my limit of pot-based excitement. However, I hadn’t seen shit. My navie self was impressed by pots three to five. When pots six to nine were added I could barely contain myself. Once again she started to dance, including the circular run at speed, with more than her height in pots balanced on top of her head. A truly cracking show, and indeed a ‘must see.’

My journey now continues south, leaving Rajasthan behind for the western most state of Gujarat.