By Isla Quinn
Five lakes. One ridge. A palace that took, by one count, nearly four centuries to finish. Udaipur in southern Rajasthan is a city built around water, and the sources we read give it three different nicknames and two different founding years.
Where it sits
Wikipedia places Udaipur in the south of Rajasthan, near the Gujarat border, and says it is called the White City and the City of Lakes. Britannica, an encyclopaedia, puts it in the hills just east of the Aravalli Range, about 100 km south-west of Chittorgarh, and calls it the City of Sunrise. Three names, then, from two reference works.
The lakes
Wikipedia lists five major artificial lakes around the city: Fateh Sagar, Lake Pichola, Swaroop Sagar, Rangsagar and Doodh Talai. It adds that Udaipur was among the first two Indian cities accredited under the Ramsar Convention’s Wetland City scheme. Sahapedia, a cultural-heritage platform, says Pichola is linked with the others by conduits and channels, and that successive maharanas built dams and water-harvesting works to stop the lake drying out. Before piped water, it says, the lakes supplied drinking water.
Lake Pichola has its own Wikipedia article, which gives the surface area as 696 hectares, the maximum length as 4 km and the maximum width as 3 km, with an average depth of 4.32 m and a maximum of 8.5 m. The origin is told two ways inside that one article: built in 1362 by Parmar Rajputs, or built by nomadic Banjara people. Sahapedia sides with the Banjara version and dates the lake to 1362 as well. The article’s infobox lists three islands and its text names four.
The palaces on the water
The Wikipedia article on Udaipur says Jag Mandir, on an island in Pichola, was built from 1551 to 1652 by three Maharanas of Mewar. Sahapedia is more specific: Karan Singh II (r. 1620 to 1628) expanded it and Jagat Singh I (r. 1628 to 1652) completed it. The Lake Palace on Jag Niwas island dates to 1743 to 1746 in both sources, and Wikipedia describes it as white marble and now a hotel. Britannica adds that one of the Pichola palaces sheltered the future Mughal emperor Shah Jahan when he rebelled against his father.
The City Palace
Wikipedia’s article on the City Palace puts it on a ridge on the east bank of Lake Pichola, at an average elevation of 598 m. The facade is 244 m long and 30.4 m high, and the complex contains 11 small separate palaces. Interiors use mirror-work, marble-work, murals, silver-work, inlay and coloured glass. Badi Pol, the Great Gate, dates to 1600 and the triple-arched Tripolia Pol to 1725, with eight marble arches standing between them. In 1974 part of the palace and the Zenana Mahal became a public museum.
The article does not agree with itself on the start. The body says 1559, the introduction says 1553, and it describes construction by 22 generations over “nearly 400 years” while the infobox gives completion as the sixteenth century. It also says “built entirely in granite and marble” in the text where the infobox says marble and masonry. We note all of it and fix none of it.
Who founded it, and when
Wikipedia says Udai Singh II founded Udaipur in 1559, moving his capital from Chittorgarh after Akbar besieged it, and that it stayed the capital of Mewar until 1818. Britannica says Udai Singh made Udaipur the capital in 1568, after the sack of Chittaurgarh, and that the City Palace was begun in 1570. Sahapedia gives his reign as 1540 to 1572 and lists attacks on Chittor in 1303, 1535 and 1567 to 1568. Our reading: “founded” and “made the capital” may describe different moments, so the two years need not be rivals. No source says so.
Crafts around the city
Wikipedia names paintings, marble articles, silver arts and terracotta, and calls miniature painting one of the best known styles developed under Rajasthan’s rulers. It names Pichvai cloth paintings and phad scroll paintings, and a crafts complex, Shilpgram, about 3 km west of the city. Britannica lists cloth, embroidery, ivory and lacquerware. These are lists of what the city is known for, and neither source says which workshops are open to visitors.
Dates in order
- 1303, 1535, 1567 to 1568: attacks on Chittor, according to Sahapedia.
- 1362: Lake Pichola’s creation, according to Sahapedia and Wikipedia.
- 1540 to 1572: reign of Udai Singh II, according to Sahapedia.
- 1559: founding of Udaipur and start of the City Palace, according to Wikipedia.
- 1568: Udaipur made capital, according to Britannica.
- 1570: City Palace begun, according to Britannica.
- 1600: Badi Pol built, according to Wikipedia.
- 1725: Tripolia Pol built, according to Wikipedia.
- 1743 to 1746: Lake Palace built, according to Sahapedia.
- 1818: Mewar comes under British paramountcy, according to Britannica and Wikipedia.
- 1974: part of the City Palace opens as a museum, according to Wikipedia.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia is collaboratively edited and its three articles here contradict themselves in places. Britannica is an edited encyclopaedia. Sahapedia is a heritage platform; we read one article on the lakes. None is a conservation report, a museum catalogue or a visitor guide.
Quick answers
Why is Udaipur called the City of Lakes? According to Wikipedia, five major artificial lakes surround it: Fateh Sagar, Lake Pichola, Swaroop Sagar, Rangsagar and Doodh Talai. Sahapedia says they are linked by conduits and channels.
Who founded Udaipur? Wikipedia says Udai Singh II founded it in 1559. Britannica says he made it his capital in 1568 after Chittaurgarh was sacked. The two reference works differ.
What is on Lake Pichola? Wikipedia says the lake holds island palaces: Jag Niwas, where the marble Lake Palace stands, and Jag Mandir. Its infobox counts three islands and its text counts four.
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