Udaipur's eternal allure: Why everyone comes to the Lake City for epic weddings

Udaipur has seduced emperors, rebels, and romantics for five centuries. Now it lures celebrities like Vijay and Rashmika, craving weddings in style. What ancient tricks does the city wield on those who fall in love?

Growing up in Udaipur never felt special, except when it rained.

With the onset of the monsoon, the lakes would rise suddenly from their parched beds, spilling onto the roads as if reclaiming the city. The Aravallis turned a deep, seductive green, releasing an aroma that the trees had been holding all year. In the villages beyond, streams and waterfalls emerged from nowhere. From Gogunda to Kumbhagarh, Fatehssagar to Haldighati, every spot opened its arms wide, inviting you in. Fires would be lit, baatis baked crisp in the embers, dal set to boil. Picnic time.

The other seasons were a long, gruelling punishment that defines Rajasthan. The wet cold froze everything during the winters, which were best spent in quilts, or layers of warm clothes.

The summers sizzled, often turning the lakes into cycling tracks. People would take boat rides to the island park near Jagmandir, eating ice cream on the ghats, barely glancing at the pavilions where Mughal prince Khurram, later Shah Jahan, had once taken refuge from his father's wrath. But all this was part of everyday life.

Who would have known, while shivering through the January mornings on the way to school, that the city we took for granted was quietly becoming a legend. While we suffered its seasons, the world was falling in love with its charms.

Yes, there were early signs. Vijay Anand shot Guide in the bazaars of Udaipur, Raj Khosla came here to capture the haunting enigma of Mera Saaya. And James Bond chased the evil of Octopussy in its bylanes, riding a bike down the steep stairs of Jagdish Mandir. But, nothing to suggest that one day Udaipur’s seductive charm would snare the elite of the world.