Lake Pichola, Udaipur

Lake Pichola is an artificial freshwater lake at the heart of Udaipur, Rajasthan, created in the 14th century and enlarged by the Mewar rulers who built the City Palace along its eastern shore. Tradition says a grain merchant called Pichhu Banjara dammed the stream around 1362, giving Lake Pichola its name.

When Maharana Udai Singh II founded Udaipur in 1559, he chose the lake shore for his new capital and enlarged the reservoir. Two island palaces followed. Jag Mandir, built in the early 17th century, sheltered the young Prince Khurram, later Shah Jahan, when he rebelled against his father. Jag Niwas was built in the 1740s by Maharana Jagat Singh II as a summer palace and is now the Taj Lake Palace hotel, seen in the 1983 Bond film Octopussy. Lake Pichola is the reason Udaipur looks the way it does, and water levels drop in a dry year, when boats may stop running.

What to see

• The City Palace, a mile of balconies, towers and cupolas along the eastern shore
• Jag Mandir island, with its stone elephants and gardens, reached by boat
• The Lake Palace, visible from every ghat but open only to hotel guests and diners
• Gangaur Ghat and Bagore Ki Haveli, which hosts an evening folk dance show
• Ambrai Ghat on the western shore, the classic spot for the palace at sunset

What to wear

Walking the ghats and taking a boat needs no dress code, but many ghats have small temples where you remove shoes, and bathers use the steps, so modest clothing is best. Udaipur is milder than the desert cities, though a hat and sunscreen help on the open water, and winter evenings on the lake are cool. Mewar has its own dress: men in the Mewari pagri, a tightly wound turban, and women in lehenga-choli with a bandhani tie-dye odhni.

Local food to try

Mewari cooking shares Rajasthan's staples, dal baati churma, gatte ki sabzi and ker sangri, with local touches such as makki ki raab, a thin maize soup. The lanes between Jagdish Temple and Gangaur Ghat are full of rooftop restaurants looking over Lake Pichola, and the old city has kachori and jalebi stalls in the mornings. Vegetarian food is standard across Udaipur; laal maas is the meat dish to try.

Good to know

• Best from September to March, when the lake is fullest after the monsoon
• Boat rides run daily, about 9am to 6pm; the sunset slot fills first
• Boat tickets are paid; City Palace entry is separate
• Allow an hour for the boat, half a day with the City Palace
• The City Palace jetty is a short walk from Jagdish Temple in the old city
• Drones are not permitted over the palaces

Nearby places

Lake Pichola is far from Rajasthan's other main sights. Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur is about 250 km away, a scenic drive via Kumbhalgarh, and Jaipur's Amber Fort and Hawa Mahal are around 400 km north.