Message #15: Udaipur

(Message sent Sat, 18 Nov 2006 00:18:26 -0700)

Udaipur makes for a nice change of pace. While most of the rest of Rajasthan is flat and dry, Udaipur is hilly and has several large lakes, all artificial, each created by the whim of some maharaja or other - it's good to be the king!

The trip from Jodhpur was great fun. I have discovered a neat way to organise transport that I suspect only works in commission-paying societies. Because everyone gets backhanders for everything, everyone is happy to organise anything for you. So I've taken to saying to my hoteliers, "I want to go to X tomorrow - what can you suggest?" The very least that happens is that they get a train or bus ticket for me- itself worth doing as it can be a hassle to do this yourself. But more often than not they come up with a more creative solution, nearly always involving a cousin or brother who just happens to be going that way and would be happy for me to tag along for a suitable fee.

So a young lad called Ashiq drove me from Jodhpur to Udaipur, stopping at two remote and interesting sites along the way that I might not have managed to reach otherwise.

The first of these was Ranakpur (25 06.944 N 073 28.335 E), yet another Jain temple, but a striking one. It consists of a series of open colonnaded halls laid out around a central structure containing various idols. There are far more marble columns than are needed for structural reasons (1444 of them, each different, if you believe the guidebooks), so the effect is of wandering through a forest of pillars, with site-lines opening and closing as you move around.

One thing I really like about Jain architecture is how they do their domes. On the inside they are lined symmetrically with statues of people with their heads up and feet down, but with their backs against the slope of the dome. I don't know who these guys are, but the feel like angels or something similar.

The other site on the way to Udaipur was a - sorry - fort. It's worth the visit just for the drive in. You spend an hour or more bouncing around on a narrow road through terrain consisting of jagged scrubby ridge-lines. Every now-and-then you pass a village which clearly has no power, and for which the water is raised via a chain of buckets driven by a capstan turned by a brace of bullocks whose entire life would seem to consist of walking around a very small circle. Along the road walk women wearing bright saris, immense bundles of firewood balanced on their heads. Then you cross a rise and there in front of you is a low saddle, with a wall thrown across it. This is Kumbalgarh fort (25 08.919 N 073 34.865 E), built in the 15th century. The terrain in which it sits is so rough that you'd think that any attacking army would be so exhausted by the march in that they wouldn't have any weetbix left for the actual fight.

While the wall is good, for me the best part of this fort was the steep fortified hill to one side, surmounted by a palace. A broad path sweeps to-and-fro up the hill, taking you from terrace to fortified terrace via a succession of gates. Each terrace is smaller than the one below, and commands a better view. The arrangement reminded me in a small way of Minas Tirith.

Udaipur itself has no forts, you will be pleased to hear. It does sport one of Rajasthan's most famous sites however: the Lake Palace. This is a white marble palace built in the 18th century on an island in an artificial lake. There is no sign at all of the actual island - it is designed so that the palace seems to be sitting on the water.

The lake is very shallow, and in years when the monsoon has been bad it dries up, turning the Lake Palace into the Stinky Mudflat Palace. Everywhere in Rajastan people have been complaining that the monsoon has been bad for several years, so I was expecting the worst. However the lake is full for some reason, so I get to see the palace in all its glory.

The problem is, its very hard to actually see either lake or palace! The entire waterfront is built out with buildings cheek-by-jowl with each other. There are almost no public access points to the lake, and those that exist are used by the locals to wash. If your hotel happens not to have a view of lake or palace (and mine doesn't), then you're just out of luck. Elsewhere you might expect a promenade or at least a look-out point to show off the town's jewel, but not here. So I've been taking lots of boat trips, since that's basically the only way you can sit and appreciate the lake and palace. The Lake Palace is at 24 34.492 N 073 40.928 E. This reading was taken from the water (since only rich people are allowed into the palace itself), about 100m due east of the palace.

While the Lake Palace is nice enough, for me Udaipur's best feature is the Monsoon Palace (24 35.588 N 073 38.367 E), a chateau built on the very top of a steep hill, the highest point for miles around. The flanks of the hill form part of a wildlife sanctuary, so there are no other buildings anywhere near it. The place reminds me of the Eagle's Nest, or at least of the idea of the Eagle's Nest you get from war movies.

The best view is gained from a little balcony off what I take to be the master bedroom. You step on to this balcony and you are looking straight down into a vast valley, dotted here-and-there with lesser peaks. It would be a magnificent sight, if not for the every-present haze.

Apparently both the Lake Palace and the Monsoon Palace feature in the movie Octopussy.

Tonight I'm leaving Rajasthan, and heading for the next state south, Gugarat.

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