I wanted to visit the City Palace at Udaipur, but was a little put off by the fact that you pay ₨75 entrance fee (which includes entrance to the museum inside) but you also have to pay ₨200 for every camera that you take in. First world problems I guess!
As you walk into the City Palace you first pass through Badi Pol (The Grand Gateway) and then through Tripoliya. Between the two is a large sloping courtyard that holds eight Torans, gateways, that mark the ‘tula-daan’ or ceremonial weighing of the Maharana in order to give the same weigh in gold, silver or grain to the people of the land.
You pass through the Tripoliya into the Manek Chowk, which is the main courtyard in front of the palace. Public meetings, ceremonial processions and festivals have been traditionally conducted here; now the grounds have been landscaped and dotted with shops and government emporiums for the visiting public. In the Manek Chowk are two animal traps; one large portable Tiger cage and a smaller one for Leopards. I just spent time thinking ‘How can a Tiger cage that’s at least 10 ft high and 20ft long be portable!?
After the City Palace, I went to see the Maharana’s Car Collection! He has all his cars displayed in an old public garage; you can pay to have a look at them and also to eat in the restaurant there. I paid ₨250 to eat in the restaurant; it was eat-as-much-as-you-like Thali. At first, the waiters brought out the dishes with a simple cucumber salad, three little cake type morsels and some curd; I was unsure that I would like everything, but went with it anyway. Next a waiter came over and spooned some masala beans, Bombay potato, ochre and spinach into the little dishes around the platter. Now I was getting impressed, suddenly another man come over and spooned on some soup-like product…then another with chapattis….but there was still more food to come! Next was a waiter with poppadum’s and another with large amounts of rice…I simply couldn’t eat everything. It was lovely!
Once I had become truly obese, I went to look at the cars.
The Maharana certainly has a lot of cars: Two 180D Mercedes – 200 Mercedes – Cadillac Coupe – Cadillac Saloon – MG Sportscar – Rolls Royce Phantom: This was in the James Bond film Octopussy – Rolls Royce Jeep: The only one ever made, created especially for the Maharana – Rolls Royce Safari Car: Created for the Maharana – Buick Super Eight – Rolls Royce Softtop – 1959 Morris Minor Traveller and 1950 Morris Minor Convertible – Chevrolet Truck and School Bus – First ever bus used for the City Palace School – Rambler – Austin Cambridge – Two Willys Jeeps – a Vauxhall – and LOADS of carriages in various states of disrepair. Phew!
All of these vehicles are right hand drive, which means that some of them would have been converted specifically for the Maharana. I personally thought that it was a lovely museum, given that a lot of these cars are still used by the family.
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