Hin: उदयपुर udayapur
‘Udai Singh’s City’ City/District, Rajasthan
From Udai (Singh) and Skt: pura, ‘fort’, ‘city’.
Udai Singh founded Udaipur in 1558. He had been advised that a Newar capital built here would be invincible. Udaipur was the capital of Mewar state until 1818 when it became a princely state under the British. Tod described it as the “most romantic spot on the continent of India”.
It is now called the ‘City of Lakes’: it has eight of them (Pichola, Fateh Sagar, Jaisamand, Rajsamand, Udai Sagar, Dudh/ Doodh, Jiyan Sagar and Swaroop Sagar); but could just as easily be called the ‘City of Palaces: it has more than a few of them (including City, Palace, Lake Palace, Jag Mandir, Bagore ki Haveli and Monsoon Palace/Sajjangarh Palace).
For related place names see Indian Place names and Rajasthan place names.
Udaipur’s Landscape Vivek Shrivastava
