Lake Palace was built in 1743 on the island of Jag Niwas in the middle of
the Lake Pichola, (Udaipur), an
artificial fresh water lake created in the year 1362 AD. It was named after
the nearby Picholi village, by
the Maharana Jagat Singh II to serve as the summer residence
of the royal family; (62nd successor to the royal dynasty of Mewar
of Udaipur.
It was initially called
Jag Niwas
or Jan
Niwas
after its founder and it covers an area of approximately 1.5
hectares. It took three years - 1743 - 1746 to complete the palace.
The palace was not well maintained for a long time by the royal family for various reasons. To avoid further falling apart and for conservation purpose the palace was converted into a luxurious hotel. Lake
Palace Hotel,as it is called,
has 83 rooms and 17 suites and numerous deluxe rooms featuring white
marble walls.The
palace was built facing east, allowing its residents to pray to the
Surya,
the Hindu sun god, at the break of dawn.
Guests
are greeted by the nice, cool wind blowing across the serene Pichola
lake in unison with soothing murmur of the rippling waves that a create
serenade. A unique mesmerizing and mystifying experience.
A
massive rock structure of 4 acres serves as the foundation of the palace. Badal
Mahal, Kush Mahal, Ajjan Niwas, Phool Mahal and Dhola Mahal.
 |
| Lake Palace, Pichola credit: rajastanvisit. com |
During
the famous Indian Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 several European families fled
from Nimach
and used the island as an asylum to escape death and destruction from the murderous mobs that went on a rampage.
It was a tense and dangerous situation for the British, including numerous innocent people. As for the British rulers, they treated Indian natives badly and ran an oppressive regime. Maharana Swaroop Singh offered them timely help during this worst period and in order to protect his European guests from the hell-bent,
ravaging soldiers,the Rana
destroyed all the town’s boats thus denying access to the lake
palace. Numerous British families were saved from near death situation in the midst of the worst rebellion in the entire British empire. The autocratic British rulers had to be squarely blamed for this Sepoy revolt.
The
hotel under Taj
Hotels Resorts and Palaces
operates
speed boats which transport guests to the hotel from a jetty at the
City Palace. It has been voted as the most romantic hotel in India
and in the world.
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