The City Palace is an imposing blend of traditional Rajasthani and Mughal art and architecture. The City Palace complex houses several palatial structures. In the heart of the old Jaipur city, the City Palace occupies a large area divided into a series of courtyards, gardens and buildings. Jai Singh built the outer wall but other additions were made much later, some right up to the start of this century. The former Maharaja still lives in part of the palace. The City Palace sprawls over one-seventh of the area of the walled city

The first building in it, is Mubarak Mahal, built by Maharaja Madho Singh. It has a beautifully carved marble gate with heavy brass doors on either side of this gate. Beyond this gate, lies the 'Diwan-E-Khas' or the 'Hall Of Private Audience' with a marble paved gallery. Across a paved square lies the 'Diwan-E-Am' or the 'Hall Of Public Audience', with its intricate decorations and manuscripts in Persian and Sanskrit. There is also a clock tower and the newer Mubarak Mahal.

To the north-west is the stately and graceful seven-storeyed Chandra Mahal, the residence of ex-ruler. The seven-story Chandra Mahal is the centrepiece and commands fine views of the gardens and the Jaipur city. The complex contains an excellent museum, an armoury and several fine halls. The apartments are maintained in luxurious order and the museum of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II has an extensive collection of art, carpets, enamelware and old weapons.

At the entrance to the City Palace is Jantar Mantar, the 'Yantralaya' of Sawai Jai Singh II, the last great classical astronomer in India. The modernistic structures known as 'Yantras' are the unique creations of this astronomer-king designed by him and built by experts to observe the movements of sun, moon, planets and the stars.

This is the largest of five observatories founded by him in 1716 AD. The others are at Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura & Varanasi. Its massive masonry instruments are of an extraordinary precision & can still be used to measure local time, the sun's declination, azimuth & altitude, the declination of fixed stars & planets & also to determine the time of an eclipse of the sun.

The fort perched on a 180 mts. high hill, covering 700 acres, was constructed by Mauryan rulers in the 7th century. In the fort, this palace was built for Queen Padmini whose beauty was responsible for the battle between Allauddin Khilji and Rana Ratan Singh.
 Rani Padmini was a celebrated beauty and according to a legend, it was here that Rana Ratan Singh showed a glimpse of her to Allauddin Khilji, the Sultan of Delhi. It overlooks a pool in which the 'Zanana Mahal' is situated, where Padmini stood when her reflection was shown to Allauddin Khilji in a mirror placed in the main hall.
Visitors coming toChittorgarh can stay in palaces, havelis and other heritage properties converted into hotels. Apart from this, a wide range of accommodation is available under the paying guest scheme to tourists with different budgets. The scheme provides the tourists a home away from home.

Location: Udaipur, Rajasthan
Suroundings: Lake Pichola
Significance: Summer Residence Of The Royal Family
Present Status: Converted To A Heritage Hotel

This former summer residence of the Royal family, has now been converted into a fabulous hotel. With Pichola Lake surrounding the lake palace, lapping and murmuring, rippling waves make the whole atmosphere very pleasant. All the luxuries of the lake palace have been utilized in making the hotel as attractive and comfortable as possible. This Lake Palace Hotel is considered to be one of the best hotels in the world

Enjoy a luxurious stay in the palace hotel in Udaipur »

Location: Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Built in: 20^th Century
Present Status: Converted Into Hotel And Museum

This is known as Umaid Bhawan Palace because of the particular type of sandstone used, to build it - which is not weathered. Portions of the Umaid palace have been converted into a hotel and a museum.
Located in the Thar Desert, Jodhpur is known for its impressive fortified bastions, specially those of Mehrangarh Fort, which has been a witness for many battles and is associated closely with the history of the region.
Being a part of the desert triangle, and venue of Marwar Festival it is also covered by the famous "Palace on Wheels", a super luxurious (emperor style) rail-cum-road package tour.
The city again is of high tourist attraction and has all basic amenities for both domestic and foreign tourists. Hotels from Super Deluxe ranging to low budge can be checked in. It is well connected by rail, road and air to the city as it again witnesses high flow of tourist traffic in winters.

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