jenny b

I happily welcomed some visitors to Udaipur last week; my friends and fellow-Fellows Tatiana and Behzad, and Tatiana’s two lovely friends from Minnesota, Karin and Kelli. As I only had two prior visitors (if I count Brian as a ‘visitor’), I was eager to show off my great little City of (dry) Lakes.

We whined (about the heat) and dined and spent a few days traipsing around some of my favorite haunts. I really enjoyed the opportunity to show of my home and they seemed to appreciate the quiet, subdued version of “India’s most romantic city” (being the middle of the hottest time of year, many tourist-friendly shops are closed for a few months; this definitely changes the experience, we decided for the better).

Our first day’s excursion was to the City Palace, Rajasthan’s largest royal palace and one of Udaipur’s many crown jewels. Started sometime in the late 1500s by the city’s founder, Maharaja Udai Singh II, the palace was home to many succeeding rulers. Though much of the palace today is open for tourism and special events, like weddings, the 76th and current Maharana, Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar, and his family of royals still live in a portion of the palace not open to the public.

I had visited the palace upon my arrival to Udaipur, but was happy to tag along for a second round, curious as to what I might have missed and eager to see the breathtaking views of (the now mostly dry) Lake Pichola and much of the sprawling city.

Here’s a little photo tour of what I think are some of the prettiest things in the palace:

I really love this colored glass inlay work; it’s usually done in marble and the effect always makes me gape.

Marble is one of Rajasthan’s most prominent natural resources, with nearly 4000 marble mines and about 1100 marble cutters in the 16 districts of the state. Many of the buildings in Udaipur are made with marble, including most of my house!

The Rajputs of Rajasthan were divided, over time, into three clans: those who were mythically born of the sun (the Suryanvanshi Family), those of the moon (the Chandravanshi Family), or those of fire atop nearby Mt. Abu (the Agni Kula Family). The Rajputs of Udaipur were the Sisodias of Marwar, born of the sun.

Unsurprisingly, the peacock is India’s national bird, a symbol of grace, beauty, and mysticism. Once endangered on the sub-continent due to hunting, they now abundantly and freely wander many a country and hillside, fully protected under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

Linked to religion and mythology and depicted in folk art and poetry, the colorful bird can be seen all over India, characterized in many a striking prominence.

After finishing up our tour of the palace, we headed down the street to say hello to a few of my Old City friends. Nirmal, a leather bag and book seller who is always a character, was more than happy to demonstrate to my friends how skillfully and quickly he makes his gorgeous books.

He cranked up some bumpin’ tunes, pulled out his tool box and began hammering away.

Within no more than 10 minutes, the piece was ready to be stained and filled with homemade paper! Everyone was impressed, which was not in the least lost on Nirmal. I’ll miss that guy.