India 2012

It's late afternoon when we arrive in Udaipur. Just enough time to drop our luggage at the small hotel P.K. found for us, and we head back to Lake Pichola for a beautiful sunset.

In the middle of the lake, the small Jag Mandir palace from the 16th and 17th centuries, converted into residential suites and reception halls.

At the top of the lake, the Taj Lake Palace, a magnificent hotel, both a royal residence and a luxury hotel...

But let's rather linger, at least with our eyes, on this sunset that bathes the city of Udaipur in its rays.

Back to the hotel to greet our usual travel companion, at least in Asian countries, the gecko...

Then to a restaurant where we choose the traditional "thali", which is a platter with different dishes including dessert. This allows us to quickly taste different specialties, but above all, it helps us find at least one dish that isn't too spicy!  

In our street, a temple looking like a Christmas shop... Actually no, it's almost Diwali, the festival of lights, hence the decorations starting to appear all over India.

Here's my balcony-bed, suspended above the street. Very classy (but with earplugs)!  

Sunday11thNovember

It's a 17th-century Vishnuite temple located in the middle of the city, at the top of a long, steep staircase.

Photos are forbidden but sound recording is not. That's good, a ceremony is taking place and it's sung. A very pleasant moment, click on the player below to listen to an excerpt!

Superb sculpted frescoes all around the temple.

A little palm squirrel also comes to bring its small offering!

The prince and his princesses

Two enormous elephants guard the temple at the top of the staircase.

They also get their little lights for Diwali.

The square seen from the top of the stairs

We continue our visit of Udaipur with the City Palace.

The palace entrance

To the left of this gate, a superb panorama of the city and its pastel-colored houses.

The imposing facade of the palace

Some Indian black kites (milvus migrans govinda) circle in the sky, hoping for some tourist to falter???  

Second gate with a swastika mosaic above it (and not the sinister Nazi swastika, which is its mirror image). The swastika is the symbol of what is good or well.

Ganesh and a maid on a large fresco with pronounced red in the first courtyard.

The Maharana had an outdoor swimming pool (only used during coronations)...

...but he also had an indoor fountain!

The maharajas of Udaipur were the most prestigious in all of Rajasthan. They held the superior title of "maharana".

The porch through which we entered

Sumptuous rooms, the Maharana knows how to entertain his guests...  

Rooms where the walls are filled with miniatures telling the life of the palace

Another style with the window blending into the decor

Maharana Fateh Singhji (1884-1930) who had the palace enlarged.

The Manak Mahal, the audience hall. Mirrors and colored glass bricks to impress...  

Here we are in the Mor Chowk, the Peacock Courtyard. This courtyard, dating from the 1750s, is entirely covered with glass mosaic.

Six warriors on this wall.

And peacocks on the other walls represent the winter, summer, and monsoon seasons.

5000 pieces of colored glass to depict these peacocks.

Finally, another room with wooden relief figures on a double-leaf door.

Well, we've added another palace to our collection! All these rooms, all these courtyards, all these corridors are tiring...  But we'll have to walk a little further to find a nice little restaurant...

All around the lake, the less fortunate inhabitants use the water to wash themselves and do laundry.

This could be likened to "ghats" which are the ritual baths Hindus take at the bottom of steps to purify themselves, but here, it seems to be simply washing and bathing to cool off.

We settle down on the terrace of a small restaurant where neighborhood children have come to play in the water.

An Indian lapwing (vanellus indicus).

We move away from the lake to enjoy the city streets. We come across two women preparing cow dung into patties to use as fuel.

For its children, the rupee is earned by transporting debris and other refuse.

The traditional and very British clock tower

Mini sacred cow with horns and big ears... Oh no, it's just a goat that would happily lick the end of my lens! sorry.gif

Monkeys (Hanuman langurs) have taken over the neighborhood. You can get away with anything when you have the status of a sacred animal!

Brrrrrr, this vendor has put used dentures and glass eyes in his display... glurps... huh.gif

And here we are already in the evening. Diwali (festival of light throughout India) is in two days and all the streets are lit up.

In a niche, doors opened revealing an altar where a procession comes to lay offerings accompanied by the noisy portable sound system! chuckle.gif

We end the evening with the modest sound and light show on the facade of the city palace.

The sound and light are not only in the palace but throughout the entire street.

A vendor of prepared carnations that the faithful can buy and offer to the gods of the neighboring temple.

The day is over for us but seems to be just beginning given this queue (Indian, of course...) entering and exiting yet another small street temple.