Udaipur Rainfall – Travel Delightful Places in City of Lake

People say monsoon is the time for being locked in home and watching rainfall from the skies with coffee/tea in one hand.  Well I would rather say visit Udaipur in monsoon and your perception will change forever. It was a instant decision to go on trip to Udaipur with Rainfall to Travel Delightful Places in City of Lake, and the first thing which I did was I checked google for weather update of Udaipur for 22^nd July & 23^rd July 2017(The days on which we will be visiting Udaipur Rainfall) and to my disappointment(earlier)/ luck (now) it showed there will be rain in Udaipur for both days.  We overruled the weather forecast and started packing for Udaipur.

Referred to as the ‘Venice of the East’, Udaipur is a city of lakes tranquil, exquisitely laid out gardens & opulently decorated palaces, reaping in heritage, culture & tradition. Founded by the Rajput king Maharana Udai Singh II in 1559, Udaipur was declared the first capital of the Mewar kingdom, built around the marvelous Lake Pichola & situated in the midst of the Aravalli.

Udaipur Rainfall Travel Delightful Places in City of Lake

Started Journey – 22^nd July 2017, Saturday

We started our journey very early in morning by car at around 4.30 am from Ahmadabad, Gujarat despite heavy rainfall previous night and same was the case throughout our journey to destination. At about 10.00 am we reached Udaipur and yes there was very little rainfall in Udaipur.

From entrance of Udaipur we moved towards “Hotel Sarovar” at banks of Lake Pichola (where we were supposed to stay) through narrow, really narrow & crowded lanes, it was impossible to manoeuvre cars through.We decided to bid farewell to our driver and his car for the day and checked in to the hotel.

Hotel Sarovar

The best thing about Hotel Sarovar was the view of lake pichola and Gangaur Ghat from the window of room. We were all relieved by seeing the sight of lake pichola from the window.

Lake Pichola

After bit of rest we left for lake pichola , it was raining we had our arrangements (umbrella). The weather was best with light drizzle making it a perfect setting as we roamed around the banks of pichola. Along the way, we noticed the City Palace complex looking absolutely amazing. In center of Lake we found a very gigantic white marble palace like structure later we came to know that it is the world famous hotel Taj. Lake pichola was adding to the beauty of Taj Hotel and with rainfall coming the scene was more heavenly. My perception of monsoon changed this moment with rainfall from skies and you holding someone specials hand and roaming in Udaipur was like LIFE

City Palace

Built on a hill top, it gives a breathtaking panoramic view of the city & its surroundings.

The palace was like ‘city within a city’. Gardens, courtyards, fountains, swimming pool, colorful ethnic wall paintings, sculptures, stained glasses, mirror work & the spectacular view of Lake Pichola from the terrace, made it a pleasure to walk around the palace while absorbing the rich history of Mewar.

Jagdish Temple

Next we visited the Jagdish temple – a three storeyed wonder of architecture dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

Bagore ki Haveli

In evening it was raining heavily so we decided to head back to our  hotel rooms and later at 6.45 pm we left for “Bagore ki Haveli” where every evening between 7.00 pm to 8.00 pm they organize Dharohar Folk Dance [Folk Dance Show]. Right as all of us got seated in the open courtyard. The Dharohar is a great way to watch ‘rangeelo Rajasthan’ in all its glory – however, do ensure you reach on time to get good seats upfront.

We all quickly took our places on the floor after much pushing & shoving around, got ready to witness one of the brightest & most colourful acts ever. For the next one hour, we were witness to the 7 major traditional folk dances of Rajasthan. Women dressed in different colored ghagras, danced with ignited brass pots on their heads, musical instruments tied to their bodies, standing on the edges of brass plates, balancing dozen earthen pots on their heads & of course with the ever omnipresent puppets of Rajasthan. Beautiful, colorful, bright, fantastic, spell binding & the thoroughly entertaining folklore kept us totally mesmerized. The best part was an 70 Year Old (Physically) /Young (Mentally) Lady entered the stage with one Pot on her head and one after another she put 11 pots on her head and danced with them. As she ended her performance the applauds were unstoppable all the spectators were going crazy some clicked selfie with her , some hugged her , some touched her feet it was seriously the best performance I have seen in my life. “They say Old Is Gold and our Gold is 70 years Old” this lines from anchor still rocks my mind.

Early Morning Walk & Street Food 23^rd July 2017

Next morning, we woke up to a cloudy & rainy day. Praying for the rain to stop, though it didn’t. I decided to move out of hotel and roam around the city for a walk. I took my umbrella and started walking toward Foot Bridge on Pichola Lake. Some ladies were busy feeding fishes on Foot Bridge and some were doing pooja. I crossed the foot bridge and reached Jagdish Palace there I found a shop of “Kachori” & “Malpua” I was tempted to taste them both and the decision turned well all my friends also liked it.

Sajjangadh Palace – Monsoon Palace

It was 10.00 am when we checked out from hotel and called our driver  to pick us and drive towards sajjangad palace which is also known as Monsoon Palace which is about 5 km to the west of Udaipur city. It was built by its namesake  Maharana Sajjan Singh in 1884.  It is built on distant hill like a fairy-tale castle. it was raining still and thanks to rains we came to know why its called Monsoon palace. The view of raining clouds and city from top of the hill was awesome.

Fateh Sagar Lake

Our last destination was Fateh Sagar Lake, a favorite picnic spot for the locals. we reached there in noon. When we reached there we came to know that at Fateh Sagar Lake there was some Mela(Fair) organized for Local public for two days. So we decided to take a walk through the banks of lake with our trip partner umbrella J . There at lake we saw the traditional fair of Rajasthan and beautiful view of lake. We walked around 3 KM around fatehsagar lake and reached back to the place where our driver picked us and we drove our way back home.

To conclude my stay at Udaipur I would say without a doubt, choose to visit Udaipur during the monsoons. Not only is the temperature just perfect for moving around, you get to see the lakes, hills and palaces in their true glory.