Finally
its 13th December - a morning in the
city of Lakes n Forts... yeaahhh...we are in Udaipur
with a group of around 50 people...
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| A view of Udaipur Railway Station |
Me
with my friends, colleagues, managers n their families were waiting for this day
from last 1 month....to be free from their hectic life of the job...
Now
everyone seems enthusiastic to explore the Udaipur & were ready for
lots of fun , masti n dhamaal :))
A
double Decker bus was waiting for us outside the Udaipur railway station..On
the way from Railway station to hotel, we enjoyed the beautiful view of
ancient Udaipur ..
We
had checked into the hotel which we already booked in advanced..we relaxed
here for few hours and then got ready for the first glimpse of the Udaipur forts..
So,,Here
is the our first destination.. The City Palace
Udaipur
City Palace is one of the architectural marvels of Rajasthan, located
peacefully on the banks of Lake Pichola...
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| Main Entrance of City Palace |
City
palace was built by Maharana Udai Singh as a capital of Rajasthan in 1559,
after he moved from Chittor, as there were signs of losing control of the
Chittor fort in wars with the Mughals….He choose the site near Lake Pichola for
his new kingdom because the location was well protected on all sides by
forests, lakes and the Aravalli hills.
After
Udai Singh’s death in 1572, his son Maharana Pratap took the reins of power at
Udaipur.
Now
we all were feeling so hungry that without wasting a single moment, we
moved forward to had lunch at Natraj Hotel.. a Hotel with awesome spread of Rajasthani and
Gujarati thalis and nice ambience..
After
having lunch, we went to take the boat ride on Lake Pichola.. it feels very
relaxed in the boat ride.
Lake Pichola
is the one of most beautiful and
picturesque lakes of Rajasthan.. This lake looks more enchanting with its
scenic surroundings..
Pichola
Lake is enveloped by lofty Palaces (which now converted into Hotels), temples,
bathing ghats and elevated hills on all its sides...
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| Bathing ghats at lake Pichola |
Now we reached the
Jag Mandir Palace.. it is one of the beautiful palace located on the southern island of Lake Pichola.. The three-storied Palace is a palatial structure made in yellow sandstone and marble. It was Built in 17th century, and was raised by Maharana Karan Singh to serve as a hiding place for Prince Khurram (popularly known as Shah Jahan).
Between the years of 1620-28, Maharana Karan Singh ruled the region and during this period Prince Khurram revolted against his father. Maharana Karan Singh helped Prince Khurram as he was born to a Rajput mother. Khurram, accompanied by his wife and two sons left the kingdom. Then, Maharana Karan provided them a safe haven in the City Palace of Udaipur and later move them to Jag Mandir Palace.
Elephants carved out of white marble, giving the impression of guarding this beautiful island Palace..
Late
by this evening, we were at Bagore ki
Haveli… I was eagerly waiting to visit this place from the beginning of my
journey.. this time I was not interested in this magnificent haveli.. rather madly waited to watch the
Rajasthani Cultural program "Dharohar" and the popular puppet show …
Although
I was not able to capture those beautiful moments in my camera.. as I was busy in locking those wonderful moments in my
eyes...
The
singers and dancers who performed there were really awesome and very talented.
I
just want to share the little bit info which I know about these folk dance
forms..
Chari Dance in
which few Women dancing while
carrying ignited brass pot on their heads…this is a traditional dance by Gujjar
community of northern Rajasthan,,,
Terah Taal Dance in which musical instrument manjira is tied on the body of artists
and they played it in thirteen different style..it is originates from Kamada
Tribe of Rajasthan
Gumar Dance in
which the colorfully dressed women covered their faces, circle around and dance with the
rhythm..this is a well respected traditional dance of Rajasthani royal
families.
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| Women performing Gumar Dance |
Bhavai Dance in which the gratification of Rajasthani women been represented when she gets water in desert after walking so long keeping several vessels on their head…
This was the last performance of the program which holds everyone's breath...
It was performed by a single woman balancing eleven pots on her head and dancing on the sharp edge of a plate and broken glasses…
She performed so marvelously on the different no of songs… and the whole haveli was filled with the round of applause when she performed on a very famous song "dama dam mast kalandar" with total 11 pots on her head…
Me and my friends were feeling so excited and happy after watching her performance that we couldn't resist ourselves without having a pic with her.
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| A big cheers to this lady |
These dances were followed by the Puppet Show i
n which sting puppet dances along with music and puppeteer’s hands…
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| Bagore Ki Haveli looks marvelous with glowing lights in the night |
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