 |
 |
|||
| [Back to Wedding Ideas main page] | ||||
|
Home
|
A Royal Honeymoon in Rajasthan Contributed by Anil Mulchandani Email : ssibal@ad1.vsnl.net.in Website:www.ahmedabadcity.com/html/anil.html Photographs by Dinesh Shukla Website: www.ahmedabadcity.com/html/dinesh.html  For newly weds looking for a
honeymoon in palaces, castles and other heritage hotels,
these are satisfying times. For taking a leaf from
European royalty. more than 3 scare owners of palaces.
castles. hill forts. colonial period country mansions and
former royal hunting lodges in the states of Gujarat and
Raiasthan have converted their ancestral homes in to
heritage hotels offering a touch of period elegance, a
glimpse of the lavish lifestyles of Indian royalty and a
fine setting. Some of these properties of historic or
architectural importance can even be chartered for entire
wedding parties. After all where can you picture greater
romance then in locations selected for the kings and
queens: sparkling waters, candlelit dinners, beers on the
Iakeshore, dips in royal swimming pools, gardens where
the king romped with his queen, harem and concubines,
courtyard barbecues, moonlit walks amid marble pavilions,
king sized beds, deep soft mattresses antique fireplace,
cocktails on lake facing terraces, chats with the royal
family, it is all part of India's heritage hotel
experience.DUNGARPUR
|
|||
| ©Copyright 1998. All rights reserved. Maintained by Signetique IT Pte Ltd. | ||||
After 3
hours of driving away from Ahmedabad on the
Ahmedabad-Udaipur segment of NH-8, and then 24 km off the
highway, we came to Dungarpur where locals directed us to
the arches gateways of Udai Bilas palace. From here
everything was a bird paradise- the road changed to a
tree-lined pathway along lake Gaibsagar and the roar of
trucks giving way to bird sounds. We could see thousands
of ducks on the lakes, moorhen and herons in the reeds
and oriels, sunbirds and beeeaters in the trees.
Presently looming in front of us was the Udai Bilas, one
of the most aesthetically appealing palaces in Rajasthan
with curved arches,, domes, cupolas and turrets. The
Centrepiece is an elaborate pavilion with exquisite
mirror inlays and wood carvings, which rises up 4 storeys
from the heart of a pleasure pool in the courtyard. The
pavilion is surrounded by ballustrades and the walls of
the court are punctuated by balconies and relief
carvings. Though the palace was built by successive
rulers from His Highness Udai Sinhji in the 1840s to HH
Laxman Sinhji in 1943, the architecture is so well
harmonized that all the 4 walls around the court like one
single construction. Beside the courtyard is an elegant
dining hall, with art deco chandeliers, antique wooden
side boards, a communal banquet table, an antique
fireplace and walls spanned by hunting trophies. Our room
on the first floor was a royal suite-like room, decorated
with mirror inlaid floral mosaics, oil paintings and
exotically patterned carpets, and appointed in original
furniture from the 1930s and '40s art deco style. The
marble bathrooms had showers, tub and English toilets.
Dungarpur
has little of tourist interest and that is part of the
charm for no other hotels have mushroomed here. It is the
place to enjoy chilled beers and hot cups of tea on the
lakeshore, lawns, watch birds float lazily by from the
sun decks, take a quiet row in a boat, witness the sunset
from the terrace, picnic at ancient fort ruins on a 1500
ft high hill offering views that are nothing short of
magnificence and stroll in the private woods. We found
much of interest and beauty in the Juna Mahal, the
13-14th century palace of the same owners, with some of
the best frescoes, miniature paintings and mirror mosaics
imaginable. When the pace starts getting to you, you can
visit nearby temples, the colourful bazaar, tribal areas
and the Silvat stone masons who carve the local stone
into interesting artifacts. [