Journey Across Southern India

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Tuesday, 11 December 2018 - Explored Udaipur's magnificent City Palace on Lake Pichola with its ornate courtyards and mirrored rooms, wandered through beautiful palace gardens and waterfront ghats, visited Saheliyon-ki-Bari's fountains and lotus pools, and then climbed to the Monsoon Palace atop a hill for breathtaking views over the lakes and city at sunset.

india2018 — History has it that one day the King of Udaipur arrived at a hilltop of Udaipur while hunting rabbit. There he saw smoke coming from a small fire started by a hermit, considered a holy man. The Holy man asked the King what he most wanted. The King replied he wanted a palace to be built on the hilltop. So, the Holy man told the King that the palace must never be finished so the home could continue to be blessed. To this day, adhering to the Holy man's premonition, the palace continues to be added on to - forever and always expanding.

india2018 — Walking on the City Palace grounds, we met the Royal Guard

india2018 — Again, we see the elephant, a symbol of prosperity and good luck.

india2018 — Ganesh is one of the best known and loved deities in the Hindu pantheon of gods, and indeed is the most recognized outside India. Lord Ganesha became a focus for our cameras for the rest of the trip.

Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom.

india2018 — Another happy elephant

india2018 — Well adorned idol in the palace

india2018 — Cal with cameras in the City Palace

india2018 — Stone carved screen in the City Palace

india2018 — Room used to keep carrier pigeons - used for communication

india2018 — The palace garden was built in 1699. Everything about how this palace was built was designed with a purpose and from a spirit of defense.

india2018 — Cal and Virginia Ann in the City Palace garden

india2018 — Ceiling tiles in the City Palace

india2018 — Brilliant mirrored room

india2018 — A door made out of ivory.

india2018 — A ceiling decoration with the king depicted with the sun as he is seen as the sun king.

india2018 — The balcony in Mor Chowk (Peacock square) - an inner court in the City Palace. The windows are inset with colored glass.

india2018 — There are three peacocks in the courtyard. They have been crafted with 5000 pieces of glass, which shine in green, gold, and blue colors.

india2018 — Another Ganesha statue

india2018 — Ceiling painting at an entrance door

india2018 — Situated over an island in Lake Pichola, the Lake Palace was constructed to serve as a royal summer palace. Built of white marble, the palace is now a luxury 5 Star hotel, operating under the Taj Hotels.

india2018 — A lower part of the City Palace - near the water's edge

india2018 — Gangaur Ghat is a main ghat situated on the waterfront

india2018 — Lake scene with a hotel, temple, and daily wash all on the lake's edge.

india2018 — Jag Mandir is a palace built on an island in the Lake Pichola. Also known as the "Lake Garden Palace", it was constructed by three kings of the Mewar kingdom. The construction started in 1551 and was completed by 1652. The royal family used the palace as a summer resort and pleasure palace.

india2018 — Little elephants graced the tops of fence posts around a garden.

india2018 — One of three buildings on the island. The island is used for weddings - debris from the big wedding before we arrived was still being cleaned up when we visited.

india2018 — Window in the garden looking toward the city

india2018 — Virginia Ann and Cal on a bench with Udaipur in the background

india2018 — We toured Saheliyon-ki-Bari, a garden created in 1710 - 1734 by the king for young girls to lounge around and have fun. The garden was a tranquil oasis and we learned that in the 1800's, the English imported palms which are not native to India and tiered fountains that dot the garden landscape today.

india2018 — Saheliyon-ki-Bari (Garden of the Maidens) is a garden with fountains, a lotus pool, and marble elephants. It was built by Rana Sangram Singh.

india2018 — The Queen was accompanied by 48 maids, to offer them pleasurable moments away from the political intrigues of the court they would escape to the garden.

india2018 — One of several fountains in the garden

india2018 — The main pool surrounded by walls covered in bougainvillea

india2018 — After the Garden of the Maidens we drove to the top of a mountain to the Monsoon Palace

From the mountain top you could see the Udaipur Solar Observatory in Fateh Sagar Lake.

We ended the day at the Monsoon Palace, the highest point in the city of Udaipur, with an incredible view.

india2018 — The city of Udaipur from the Monsoon Palace

india2018 — The Monsoon Palace, also known as the Sajjan Garh Palace, is a hilltop palatial residence of the kings.

india2018 — Its builder, Maharana Sajjan Singh, originally planned to make it a five-storey astronomical center. The plan was canceled with Maharana Sajjan Singh's premature death. It was then turned into a monsoon palace and hunting lodge.

india2018 — A small rodent which looks like a chipmunk but is really an Indian palm squirrel.

india2018 — The Arayeli Mountains in the setting sunlight

india2018 — Sun set over a village

india2018 — Orange clouds

india2018 — The sun peeking through the clouds as it sets.

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