About Udaipur

The city of udaipur owes its name to its founder Maharana Udai Singh. Udaipur can rightly be called as The Romantic City Of Lakes. The marble palaces, beautifully laid out gardens and the lakes make udaipur seem almost like a mirage in the desert. Udaipur is also known as the Venice Of The East. Pichloa lake, Fateh sagar lake, Jaisamand lake, Rajsamand lake, Udai sagar lake and Doodh talai in udaipur are some of the most beautiful lakes in rajasthan. The city of udaipur also boasts of several gardens that are truly a green retreat in the dry lands of rajasthan. Gulab bagh or Sajjan niwas garden in udaipur is the largest garden of rajasthan, Saheliyon ki bari is one of the most beautiful garden and a major tourist destination in the city and the Nehru garden set amidst the fateh sagar lake offers truly an eye-soothing view for any observer.
The city is also known for its Rajput-era palaces. Particularly famous is the Lake palace which entirely covers a small island in the pichola lake. Fateh prakash palace and City palace are also the beautiful palaces worth watching. Jagdish temple made in the Indo-Aryan style of architecture is one of the famous temples of udaipur located in the city palace complex. Its architecture comprises beautifully carved pillars, decorated ceilings, painted walls and lush halls and it is one of the major tourist attraction.
The city of udaipur also presents artifacts of the bygone age by the means of museums. City palace museum, Bhartiyalok kala museum, Shilpgram museum, Ahar museum and Vintage collection of classic car museum offers a glimpse of the items that used to be the part of the regal lifestyle. Other major attraction of the city are Maharana Pratap Memorial or Moti Magri, Bagore-ki-haveli, Udaipur solar observatory - Asia's only solar observatory, Kumbhalgarh wildlife sanctuary, Sukhadia circle which is a landmark built on a traffic roundabout in udaipur. It is a three tiered fountain that is lit at night and is a popular place for the locals in evenings.
Udaipur houses some of the most luring hotels ranging from heritage and luxury hotels to economy and budget hotels with world class facilities, romantic escapades, traditional rajasthani hospitality and deft professional service. It is the personalized attention and royal treatment that makes one's stay in udaipur really worthwhile. Since there are so many lakes that has earned the city the title of "City Of Lakes", almost all the rooms in the hotels offer delightful views of serene and placid lake waters or spring green gardens that are always in full bloom.
This blog is a complete tourist guide as it covers all the major attractions of the city one would like to know about and has all the other necessary information with some of the best pictures one would like to view before visiting the place.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Rishabhdeo Temple

Rishabhdeo Temple is an important pilgrimage site for followers of Jain religion. The temple is located on Udaipur-Ahmedabad road, at a distance of 65 kms from the city of Udaipur in Dhulev. Dhulev is a small town that is also known as Rikhabdeo, famous for its Rishabhdeo Temple. The temple traces its origin in the 15th century and is dedicated to Lord Rishabh Dev. Rikhabdeo ji is supposed to be one from the 'Trithankar' of Jain religion. The lord is also referred as Keshariyaji, since pilgrims offer immense quantity of saffron to the lord.
The Jainism sect is believed to be founded by Lord Mahavira. Rishabhdeo is regarded as one of the descendants of Lord Mahavira. Rikhabdeo temple is a centre of devotion not only for Jains, but for Meena tribals, Bhils and Vaishnavites too. People of Jain and Bhil community, make it a point, to visit this holy shrine of Lord Rishabhdeo, every time they visit to Udaipur. The Bhils catch acquaintance with the image of Rishabhdeo linking it with their dark complexion of skin.
Both Jains and Bhils have immense respect for this temple, since the lord fulfills all their wishes and desires. Rishabhdeo Temple has been one of the four main religious sites of Mewar that is ruled by the Sisodia Maharanas of Udaipur. Sometimes, Rishabhdeoji is considered as one of incarnations of Lord Vishnu and due to this reason; many of the Hindus come to this place of worship every month from all over Rajasthan.
While entering this temple, you will be received by the Elephants that are carved out of black stone. In the north, the image Goddess Chakreshvari adorns the site and in the south, the image of goddess Padmavati fetches the attention. In this temple, the idol of Lord Rishabh Dev captures the major attraction. This 3.5 feet tall idol is carved out of a single piece of black stone. The lord is sitting in 'padmasana' posture and his long hair touches the shoulders. On the platform where the idol is seated, two oxen are carved in the middle. These oxen also represent the 16 dreams of Tirthankar's mother.
Besides the main idol, there are 23 other idols and out of them, 2 are standing and 21 are in a sitting position. All these idols are made up of Ashtadhatu (composed of eight metals) and encircle the idol of Lord Rishabhdeo. The northern and southern parts of the Khela Mandapa (Hall) are occupied by the idols of Tirthankaras Vasupujya, Mallinath, Neminath, Parshvanath and Mahavir Swami that are collectively known as Panch-Balayati. Apart from this, there are 52 other devakulikas (shrines) of the Tirthankaras.
This temple has been accredited to witness the long history of Mewar. It has about 65 inscriptions on its walls. The inscription that dates back to 15th century states that the temple was constructed as per the preaching of Bhattaraka Dharmakirti belonging to Kashtha Sangh. At the same time, 'Garbhagriha' and 'Khel Mandapa' were constructed. In 1832, the 'Nakkarkhana' (drum tower) was built. In the later years, the smaller shrines (devakulika) were constructed. Tourists visit this holy place to get blessings from the Lord Rishabhdeoji.

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