Udaipur is a bustling city in a lake region (some of the lakes man-made) where an 18th-century maharana established a palace complex and seat of power.
The doors in the palace buildings are very small…..especially those leading to the private apartments of the king and his harem. The guide explained that this is not because people were smaller then…. Instead it is a defensive strategy. Infidels who attempt to invade are forced to bend over as they charge through; the maharana’s soldiers wait on the other side of the door with a scimitar and a basket to lop off the interloper’s heads, one by one!
(In this part of India, the title Maharana means “Great King”; elsewhere in India the term Maharaja is common and means pretty much the same thing.)
A shout-out to the current maharana, who has served in that capacity since his father’s death a year ago….. Although his title is largely symbolic, he leads a large foundation dedicated to community welfare. And has been so successful that he has received nine Guinness World Records for his charitable activities since 2019!
The shores of this lake are very popular with local visitors as well as foreigners….
The Taj Palace hotel was the “summer palace”, built on a rocky outcropping in the middle of the lake.
The most striking impression from our short sojourn in India is the obvious love of color and shiny things reflected in the decor throughout both royal accommodations and public places.
Henna is used for skin decoration…..
Dancers also wear bright colors, with music and movement adding to the spectacle.
A quick and unabashedly sanitized sampling of India – our drives to the airport through city streets showing another whole country filled with small marketplaces, storefronts, public parks, schools, businesses…. lots and lots of inhabitants – and yes, piles of trash, stray dogs and cows, street vendors and many reminders that India has the largest population of any other country in the world, at 1.4 billion people. A rich stew of humanity.
Onward we go to our next destination – the thinly-populated island nation of The Seychelles.
Around the World Again 