Udaipur: Places Outside the City

In my previous post, I listed places in the city of Udaipur that are worth a visit. In this post, I am listing places outside the city of Udaipur that are equally beautiful and have a rich history. You will definitely need a car and the drive is long. You could easily spend a night in the nearby towns, if you like. 

Kumbalgarh: Both the forts that we visited were my favorites and I would rate this as a hit. Getting here was a different story though. The car ride was a bit rough. The roads are OK and it is a 3 hour drive. Most rental car drivers also did not really want to drive this route. But, it is a lovely place. You can combine a trip to Kumbalgarh with Ranakpur Jain temple. Once you reach closer to the fort, you will start seeing resorts and hotels. The restaurant where we had lunch, had beautiful mountain vista views. They had tables set up outside, which was very inviting. The inside was also nice with typical Indian style seating (cross-legged). The fort is set in the Aravalli range mountains and the views of the mountains are beautiful all around. The fort is surrounded by a long, continuous wall said to be the second longest continuous wall in the works. My favorite structures in the fort were the Jain temples. There are also several Hindu temples in the fort. It is possible to hire a guide at the fort entrance and learn about the history of the fort. This page has many more photos and details of the fort. We parked our car outside and walked up to  the top of the fort, stopping along the way learning about the history of the place.

Aravalli Range

The Great Wall of India as Seen from the Top of the Fort

Some Temples Seen from the Fort Above

Ranakpur Jain Temple: This was my favorite place on this trip and I rate this as a huge hit! The temple was built in the 15th century by a local Jain businessman. The temple looks beautiful from the outside, but you cannot imagine the real beauty that you experience when you enter the temple. From the outside we thought that we would probably spend about 5 mins inside, but ended up spending an entire hour in there. It is made of marble and there are 1444 marble pillars that are exquisitely carved with beautiful details. I would recommend purchasing the audio tour of this temple. This place is so cool and peaceful, that you can just sit inside for a long time without doing anything. They charge you a fee to take pictures. I think it's worth paying for the pictures. We loved this place. It was hard for me to decide which pictures to pick to post here.

Outside the temple

Massive place with many intricately carved marble pillars. Lots of air and light inside the temple. Marble keeps the place cool.

Decorated ceilings

Chittor Fort: The fort of Chittor, is in Chittaurgarh and is the largest fort in India and Asia. You cannot walk the fort in its entirety. We paid our entrance fee and picked up a guide at the entrance. We then drove around stopping at various points in between. The vistas were beautiful and there were ruins of older palaces and buildings around. Both Kirti Stambh and Vijay Stambh were beautiful. We were able to go all the way up into Vijay Stambh. The Meera temple was also quite beautiful.   

Meera Temple

Vijay Stambh

If you have the time, I highly recommend visiting all three of these places. You can spend a lot of time walking around in the city, but you won't regret getting out either. Stay overnight and enjoy the laser shows at the forts. Spending 3-4 days in the city and heading out for a couple of days, would make an interesting itinerary. Enjoy!