UDAIPUR
Royal cremation ground with 250+ chhatris (cenotaphs) - atmospheric and nearly empty of tourists, but the on-site museum is thin; worth a stop only if you're already passing by on the way back from Sajjangarh.
This royal cremation ground of the Mewar dynasty holds more than 250 chhatris (memorial cenotaphs) built up over roughly 350 years, with the practice of cremating Maharanas here beginning under Maharana Amar Singh I (reigned 1597-1620). Also called Mahasati, or 'great place of sati,' some monuments here also mark royal wives or concubines who died alongside their husbands per the historical practice of sati. The adjoining Ahar Archaeological Museum holds artifacts recovered from the site, including pottery dated to around 1700 BCE and a 10th-century bronze Buddha image, evidence the area was settled long before the Mewar court arrived.
