Page 407 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

R A JASTHAN  405

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Practical Information
City Palace Complex.
Tel (0294) 252 8016. Open daily.
& Photography restricted. m
Museum: Extra charges for photo-
graphy. 8 - Fateh Prakash:
0 open to non-residents. Shiv
Niwas: 0 open to non-residents.
City Palace, on the eastern shore of Lake Pichola
Shiv Niwas
This sumptuously
Shambhu Niwas decorated crescent-
is now home to shaped palace was the
the descendants royal guesthouse and
of the maharana. is now a luxury hotel.

Fateh Prakash

Shiv Niwas

(“Glass Turret”) inlaid with drowned. Still further left is
red and silver glass, and the the Mor Chowk (“Peacock
Krishna Niwas, which exhibits Courtyard”) with its brilliantly
outstanding Mewar miniature coloured 19th-century mosaics
paintings (see p409). This of three dancing peacocks.
was the room of 16-year-old The southern end of the City
Princess Krishna Palace complex has
Kumari, who three other opulent
committed suicide palaces built in the
in 1807 when rival late 19th and early
suitors from Jodhpur 20th centuries –
and Jaipur Shambhu Niwas,
threatened to go to where the descen-
war over her hand. dants of the rulers
To the left of this now live; Fateh
Kanch Burj, with its dazzling decoration palace is the ornate Prakash with its
of red and silver glass Moti Mahal, the magnificent Durbar
chamber of the Hall, fine portraits
halls with receding rows of dissolute Maharana and gallery of crystal
carved arches open into an Jawan Singh Mosaic of dancing pea cock furniture; and the
enchanting courtyard with (r.1828–38), who in the Mor Chowk semicircular Shiv
a marble pool in the middle. once promised a Niwas, built as the
Tall neem trees stand around dancing girl half his kingdom royal guest house (Queen
it, pro viding dappled shade. if she could walk a tightrope Elizabeth II once stayed here).
The Bari Mahal leads to the across Lake Pichola. The girl had Fateh Prakash and Shiv Niwas
Dilkhushal Mahal (built in almost managed it when the are now luxury hotels, but
1620) with two remarkable maharana’s alarmed courtiers are open to non-residents
chambers – the Kanch Burj cut the rope, and the dancer for tours and meals.

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