Saheliyon ki Bari or the 'garden of maidens' lies just beneath the Fateh Sagar lake. Maharana Sangram Singh II designed this garden in the early 18 th century purely as a pleasure garden and a summer palace for the 48 young maids that formed a part of the prince’s dowry. It is also said that the garden was presented as a peace offering from the emperor of Delhi. Inside the garden is a reservoir surrounded by four black marbled cenotaphs in it's four corners and one white marbled one in the centre. The terraces of these cenotaphs have water fountains shaped like birds from whose beaks water gushes out in thin sprays like the singing rain – producing a wonderful sight. The Maharanas entertained themselves around the four ornamental pools and the five fountains. These fountains were imported from England in 1889. Maharana Bhopal Singh specially was very fond of this place and built a rain fountain, so that it looked like rain dancing on the dancing maids.
The palace of Maharana Fateh Singh is just beside the garden and outside the palace complex there are some beautiful fountains and an oval shaped water pool strewn with lotus petals. Drops of water falls in the pool from the tusks of four marble elephants on each side of it. The whole atmosphere of the garden is calm and serene, one that transports you into a tranquil world. Around the palace walls there are fruit trees and rose flowerbeds. |