The inconvenience to us was that we could not take a boat ride around the lake to see the Jagniwas Lake Palace close up. It has been converted into a hotel and we had previously declined staying there at $450 a night but a boat trip would have been pleasant. The location is spectacular; even James Bond visited to make the movie Octopussy. It was built to take advantage of the cooling water and used as a summer palace. The main City Palace that overlooks it is only a couple of miles away.
The hotel as seen from the City Palace.
Wherever we went we came across groups of ladies in their finest wedding regalia going to a relatives house to show off gifts they had for the mother-in-law or some one similar, as is the custom.
An important part of the wedding tradition is that the groom ride to the ceremony on a horse or an elephant. We didn't see any going by elephant but we saw at least a dozen on horseback. This sturdy breed is local. Note the ears that curl to touch each other. There is a powerful story of a white horse carrying a Raj into battle and although fatally wounded by an enemy elephant, managed to swim a river and save it's master before dying. There is a statue honoring this white stallion.
A local horse in wedding finery to take a groom to the wedding. He might go to several weddings in a day.
We stayed the pleasant Rajputana Resort hotel just our of town and had an hour by the pool to unwind. The previous week had been very cold and without a heater the water was too chill for my liking. In the evening there was a dance show by the pool which we watched from our window.
The room with two large bay windows was excessively decorated in the Indian fashion with drapes and tassels everywhere and an elaborate three dimensional mosaic picture of a peacock with dozens of pieces of cut glass making up each feather. In the middle of all these sparkles and greens and browns hanging in the center if the room was the most elaborate blue glass chandelier I have ever seen.
The City Palace and Museum is still home to the current Raj. Although these kings, for want of a better title, lost all their power when the British unified the country, they are still held in great respect and much loved by the locals. He has made part of the palace into a museum but as it is still his property he can use it as he wishes. This day the courtyard was going to be used as a venue for one of the wedding parties so our trip was a little curtailed.
The palace with the setup for the evenings wedding party, and I couldn't imagine a more beautiful setting.
We then left downtown and drove to see the elaborate temples of Eklingji. Unfortunately no photography was permitted. We removed our shoes as usual and I purchased a garland of flowers to offer inside. The flowers cost about 2 ½ cents but the woman didn’t have change. She said she would give it to us as we left.
Eklingji is an irregular complex of 108 temples nestled closely together inside a high wall. Some of them are too small to enter and you can see Buddhas sitting inside. Others large enough for the faithful to gather. The tall grey stone temples were reminiscent of the sandstone monoliths of Bryce Canyon in the U.S. but all these were lovingly carved with figures and knobs. They ranged in height from ten to thirty feet. It was like walking through little canyons. The stone beneath my feet was hot where the sun warmed it and cooler in the shade, changing as I progressed around the sandstone and marble temples.
Eklingji was all the more amazing that this was built almost a thousand years ago in 734 AD.
There were statues of three cows lined up facing the alter of the largest temple. A brass one was outside under a shelter, a slightly smaller one made of a solid piece of black marble was in front of the brass one, and a silver one was inside the temple door. A drum was pounding and bells were ringing and the priests chanting and walking with dishes of flickering flames. It felt not only holy but also stirring; the friendly people, the sounds of bells and drums and the children playing on the perimeter, the incense wafting and flowers draped on various statues adding touches of yellow and white, all drawing me in. It was a very special place and my only disappointment was that I could not take pictures to share.
As we were leaving the lady who had sold us the garlands called to me and had the five rupee change ready. A great smile crossed her face as I insisted she keep it.
A local horse in wedding finery to take a groom to the wedding. He might go to several weddings in a day.
We stayed the pleasant Rajputana Resort hotel just our of town and had an hour by the pool to unwind. The previous week had been very cold and without a heater the water was too chill for my liking. In the evening there was a dance show by the pool which we watched from our window.
The room with two large bay windows was excessively decorated in the Indian fashion with drapes and tassels everywhere and an elaborate three dimensional mosaic picture of a peacock with dozens of pieces of cut glass making up each feather. In the middle of all these sparkles and greens and browns hanging in the center if the room was the most elaborate blue glass chandelier I have ever seen.
The City Palace and Museum is still home to the current Raj. Although these kings, for want of a better title, lost all their power when the British unified the country, they are still held in great respect and much loved by the locals. He has made part of the palace into a museum but as it is still his property he can use it as he wishes. This day the courtyard was going to be used as a venue for one of the wedding parties so our trip was a little curtailed.
The palace with the setup for the evenings wedding party, and I couldn't imagine a more beautiful setting.
The Elephant God Ganesha is one of my favorite Hindu gods and the only one without a human head. Every home has a Ganesha near the door and he is the first one that is prayed to because he brings good luck and keeps problems at bay. He is a little chubby as he likes to eat sweet morsels but humble enough to ride around on a rat. It was therefore no surprise that the first thing inside the palace door was a representation of Ganesha.
Looking down over the palace roves to Udaipur beyond.
This is one of the numerous courtyards in the women's area. Needless to say, the men who are invited these days don't have to be eunuchs.
The open air rooms and courtyards are decorated with the very best available from Europe at the beginning of the last century. Tiles from Holland and England and glass from Belgium decorated every surface. It was clear that there was a divide between where the Raj lived and were his wives and concubines were kept.
This is one of the balconies overlooking a courtyard in the women's part of the palace.
Murals can be seen on buildings all over the country. Here in the palace they were particularly fine.
We then left downtown and drove to see the elaborate temples of Eklingji. Unfortunately no photography was permitted. We removed our shoes as usual and I purchased a garland of flowers to offer inside. The flowers cost about 2 ½ cents but the woman didn’t have change. She said she would give it to us as we left.
Eklingji is an irregular complex of 108 temples nestled closely together inside a high wall. Some of them are too small to enter and you can see Buddhas sitting inside. Others large enough for the faithful to gather. The tall grey stone temples were reminiscent of the sandstone monoliths of Bryce Canyon in the U.S. but all these were lovingly carved with figures and knobs. They ranged in height from ten to thirty feet. It was like walking through little canyons. The stone beneath my feet was hot where the sun warmed it and cooler in the shade, changing as I progressed around the sandstone and marble temples.
Eklingji was all the more amazing that this was built almost a thousand years ago in 734 AD.
There were statues of three cows lined up facing the alter of the largest temple. A brass one was outside under a shelter, a slightly smaller one made of a solid piece of black marble was in front of the brass one, and a silver one was inside the temple door. A drum was pounding and bells were ringing and the priests chanting and walking with dishes of flickering flames. It felt not only holy but also stirring; the friendly people, the sounds of bells and drums and the children playing on the perimeter, the incense wafting and flowers draped on various statues adding touches of yellow and white, all drawing me in. It was a very special place and my only disappointment was that I could not take pictures to share.
As we were leaving the lady who had sold us the garlands called to me and had the five rupee change ready. A great smile crossed her face as I insisted she keep it.
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