City Palace, Udaipur

Where it sits. The City Palace runs along a ridge on the eastern bank of Lake Pichola, in the heart of Udaipur's old city, its facade about 244 metres long and rising some 30 metres above the water. From the lanes behind it, the building is almost invisible — you reach it through bazaars and a sequence of gateways — and only from the lake or from the western ghats does it resolve into the enormous granite-and-marble cliff that appears in every photograph of the city. Jagdish Temple, built in 1651, stands just outside the northern gate; the boat jetty for the lake sits inside the complex at Rameshwar Ghat.

The story behind it. Maharana Udai Singh II of the Sisodia Rajputs began the palace in 1553, after Mewar's capital at Chittor had become untenable, and eleven of his successors added to it over roughly four centuries. The result is not one palace but a stacked accretion of them behind a single unified frontage, which is precisely what makes the interior so disorienting: staircases double back, courtyards appear two floors above where you expect them, and the route through is a corkscrew. The Mewar house never accepted Mughal marriage alliances, unlike the Kachhwahas of Amber, and that political stubbornness shows in the architecture, which absorbs Mughal decorative ideas while keeping a Rajput plan of small courts and high terraces.

What you actually see. Entry is through Bara Pol of 1600 and then Tripolia of 1725, whose eight marble arches once hosted the ceremony in which rulers were weighed against gold and silver for distribution. Beyond lies Manek Chowk, the parade court. Inside, the sequence includes Badi Mahal, a garden courtyard laid out on a natural rock 27 metres above the palace floor so that mature trees grow at roof level; Mor Chowk, whose three peacocks were set in 1874 from thousands of pieces of coloured glass; Krishna Vilas, hung with Mewar miniatures; the Zenana Mahal, now the main museum galleries; and Amar Vilas at the top, a raised garden with fountains and the best view over the lake. The Crystal Gallery in the adjoining Fateh Prakash holds a bizarre and rather moving collection: cut crystal furniture, including a bed, ordered from F. and C. Osler of Birmingham by Maharana Sajjan Singh in 1877, which arrived after his early death and stayed in its packing cases for over a century before being displayed in 1994. Shiv Niwas and Fateh Prakash operate as hotels; the museum has been open since 1969 under the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation.

On screen. This is one of the most filmed palaces in India, in both Indian and foreign productions. Octopussy (1983) housed James Bond in the Shiv Niwas wing while using the Lake Palace and Jag Mandir on the water below for the villain's household — the film's Udaipur sequence effectively introduced the city to a global audience, and local rooftop restaurants have screened it nightly ever since. Vijay Anand's Guide (1965), with Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman, shot establishing material around the City Palace complex, and its best-known song, Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai, was picturised at Chittorgarh, the older Mewar capital the palace exists because of. Karan Johar's Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) put its wedding on the lakeshore below. The palace's own trust licenses filming, which is why productions can work here at a scale that would be impossible in a monument administered as a protected site.

Getting there and timing. Udaipur's airport at Dabok is 22 kilometres east; the railway station is two kilometres from the palace. The complex opens from about 9.30am to 5.30pm with last entry an hour before closing, and separate tickets cover the museum, the Crystal Gallery and the boat ride. Mornings are quieter; late afternoon gives warm light on the lake-facing terraces and leads naturally into the sunset boat. An evening sound-and-light show in Manek Chowk narrates Mewar's history in Hindi and English on alternating slots. September to March is the comfortable season, with the lake full after the monsoon. The building is a vertical maze of narrow stairs, low doorways and changes of level, with no lift on the visitor route, so it is demanding for anyone with restricted mobility; Manek Chowk and the ground-level courts are the accessible portion. Allow two to three hours.