About City Palace Udaipur
Overlooking Lake Pichola, the City Palace complex took shape over nearly 400 years, beginning in 1559 under Maharana Udai Singh II and continuing through 22 generations of Sisodiya Rajput rulers, who together added 11 palaces to the complex. Udai Singh II had inherited the Mewar kingdom at Chittor in 1537 but was steadily losing his fort to Mughal forces; he chose this hilltop site near Lake Pichola for its natural defenses of forest, lake and the Aravalli hills. On the advice of a hermit met during a hunting expedition, he began construction with the Rai Angan, the Royal Courtyard, marking the birth of the palace complex.
The palace's history is deeply entwined with Mewar's turbulent relationship with the Mughals. Udai Singh's son, Maharana Pratap, took the throne in 1572 and was famously defeated by Akbar at the Battle of Haldighati in 1576, though Mewar was later restored to Pratap's son, Amar Singh I, under Akbar's successor Jahangir. Peace eventually settled the dynasty here, and by 1761 Udaipur and Mewar had become firmly established, with the City Palace standing as the dynasty's enduring seat. Among the 11 palaces added over those four centuries, the Badi Mahal stands out for how it was built rather than just when: Rana Amar Singh II raised it in 1699 directly atop an 89-foot natural rock outcrop already inside the complex, turning what could have been a structural obstacle into a garden palace with some of the best views over the city and Lake Pichola. The Zenana Mahal, by contrast, tells a social rather than architectural story — it was the palace of the royal women, built around delicate jharokha balconies and its own durbar hall where the queens and other women of the court managed matters specific to their quarters, largely independent of the men's side of the palace. Unusually for a complex this old and this large, City Palace has never fully passed into being a museum piece: part of it remains the actual residence of the Mewar royal family today, making it one of only a handful of former royal palaces in India where descendants of the original dynasty still live on site.
A Backdrop for Film and Ceremony
City Palace's dramatic lakeside setting has made it a recurring backdrop for Bollywood and international film productions over the decades, and its courtyards continue to host cultural performances, classical music evenings, and grand private weddings drawn by the same views that made it a favoured filming location. The palace also plays a central role in Udaipur's most prominent local festival, Mewar Festival, held each spring, when the royal family and city residents mark the arrival of the season with processions and rituals that spill out from the palace grounds onto Lake Pichola itself.
Why visit
Inside the Palace
Of the complex's many chambers, the Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace) and the peacock-themed Mor Chowk courtyard, with its glass-mosaic peacocks set into the walls, are the most photographed. The City Palace Museum occupies part of the complex, displaying royal weapons, miniature paintings, and costumes, while a separate Crystal Gallery holds an extraordinary collection of crystal furniture ordered by Maharana Sajjan Singh in the 1870s — some pieces reportedly never even unpacked from England.
Mor Chowk
A courtyard decorated with colourful glass-mosaic peacocks, each representing a different season.
Sheesh Mahal
A mirror-work chamber where thousands of tiny mirror fragments reflect candlelight across the walls.
Crystal Gallery
A rare collection of 19th-century crystal furniture, including a crystal bed, ordered from England.
Architecture Shaped by Four Centuries
Because the complex grew across nearly four hundred years and 22 different rulers, City Palace reads less like a single unified structure and more like a layered record of changing tastes: Rajput domes and jharokha balconies sit alongside sections that show clear Mughal influence, a legacy of the intermarriage and diplomatic exchange between Mewar and the Mughal court over the centuries, along with later additions that borrow from European and even Chinese decorative styles. Walking through the connected palaces, this shift in style from one wing to the next is often visible in the tilework, arches and painted murals, giving visitors a kind of architectural timeline as they move deeper into the complex.
A Palace That Still Belongs to the Royal Family
Unlike many of Rajasthan's former royal residences that have been fully converted into museums or hotels, a portion of City Palace remains the actual home of the Mewar royal family, whose descendants continue to reside in a private section not open to the public. This continuity gives the palace a different atmosphere from other heritage sites in the state — visitors are touring not just a preserved monument but a residence still connected to the family line that built it, with the Mewar Trust responsible for maintaining and opening the public sections while managing the family's ongoing presence on site.
Visiting Tips
Given the scale of the complex, allowing two to three hours is generally recommended to see the main palace, museum, and Crystal Gallery without rushing; a battery car or golf-cart service is available inside for those who prefer not to walk between the two main entrance gates. Photography is usually permitted in most courtyards, though the museum and Crystal Gallery sections often carry separate camera fees or restrictions, so checking at the ticket counter is worthwhile. Combining a City Palace visit with nearby Jagdish Temple, just a short walk away, is a popular way to round out a half-day of sightseeing in this part of Udaipur.
Views Over Lake Pichola
Several balconies and upper terraces within the complex open directly onto sweeping views of Lake Pichola, with the Lake Palace and Jag Mandir visible in the water below and the Aravalli hills forming a backdrop beyond the city. These vantage points, chosen deliberately by the palace's original builders for both defense and beauty, remain some of the most photographed spots in Udaipur today, particularly in the late afternoon when the lake takes on a soft golden hue that has helped earn Udaipur its reputation as the "City of Lakes."
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