Kshitiz Sikka, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Saheliyon ki Bari
A garden of fountains built for a queen's companions — and every jet in it still runs on gravity alone.
Water without a pump
The garden was laid out for the women who attended a Mewar queen, and its fountains are fed by a channel from Fateh Sagar above it. There is no machinery: the pressure is the drop from the lake, which is why they were still working when nothing else in the city was.
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Through the garden
Small, formal, walled and shaded — a completely different register from the palaces, and a deliberate relief from them.
The lotus pool
- The central pool with marble kiosks at its corners and a fountain in the middle. It is the picture everybody takes and it deserves it.
The rain fountains
- A pavilion where jets play from the roof edge to imitate monsoon rain. They are switched on for visitors and the effect is genuinely charming rather than gimmicky.
The marble elephants
- Four carved elephants at the corners of one of the pools, spouting water. Eighteenth century and much repaired.
The bougainvillea and the shade
- The planting is the other half of the point. After a morning in the palace this is where Udaipur stops being hard work.
Getting there
It is out of the old city, so unlike most of Udaipur it needs transport.
By road
- About ten to fifteen minutes north of the old city by auto or car, near Fateh Sagar.
On foot
- Walkable from the Fateh Sagar lakeside but not sensibly from the palace, which is a good half hour away through traffic.
Fitting it in
- It is the standard Udaipur afternoon, after the palace in the morning. That order works because it is shaded and low-effort.
When to go
A garden, so the season shows more here than at a fort.
Season
- October to March for comfort; the planting is at its best just after the monsoon, in September and October.
Hour
- Late afternoon. The light through the trees is better and the fountains are more likely to be running for the evening.
How long
- Forty-five minutes. It is small and it is not trying to fill an afternoon on its own.
Worth knowing
Manage one expectation and it is a good stop.
The fountains are not always on
- They run on a schedule and on visitor numbers rather than continuously. If they are off when you arrive, ask — they are often switched on for a group.
It is small
- Twenty minutes will do it if you are moving. It is a pause in the day rather than a destination, and treating it as one avoids disappointment.
Shade
- The most reliably shaded thing to do in Udaipur in the middle of a hot afternoon.
Combining it
- Pairs naturally with a Fateh Sagar loop or with the Monsoon Palace on the ridge above, which is fifteen minutes further on.
Nearby
North of the old city.
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