Alwar City Information

Alwar is a city situated in the beautiful location admist a cluster of small hills in the Aravalli range. There is a massive fort on one of the hills bringing to mind the glorious history of this place.

The city has rich heritage buildings, beautiful lakes, fort and palaces and scenic wooded valleys. . A sweetmeat specialty made of milk Alwar Mawa is not to be missed. Some of the finest variety of birds and animals are spotted here. Alwar has one of the finest wild life sanctuaries in Rajasthan-Sarika, which is an excellent tiger country.

Best Season
Summers are extremely hot and hence the best time to visit is from September to February.

Shopping
As in any Rajasthani city, even here you can shop for excellent Rajasthani jewellery and other Rajasthani handicraft items. Markets areas are Hope Circus, Bajaja Bazar, Sarrafa Bazar, Mala Khera Bazar, Kedalganj Bazar.

Places to See

Bila Quila Fort
This huge fort, was constructed before the rise of the Mughal empire. It stretches 5 km from north to south and 1.6 km from east to west, and stands 304 metres above the city and 595 metres above the sea level.

This huge fort has 15 large and 51 small towers and 446 openings for musketry, along with 8 huge towers encompassing it. The fort has several gates - Jai pol, Suraj pol, Laxman Pol, Chand Pol, Kishan Pol and Andheri Gate. Also there are remains of Jal Mahal, Nikumbh Mahal, Salim Sagar, Suraj Kund and many temples. Babar had spent a night at this fort and took away the hidden treasures to gift to his son, Humayun. Akbar’s son, Jahangir had also stayed here for some time during his exile. The place where he stayed is called salim mahal. The fort was finally annexed by Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1775 A.D.

City Palace or Vinay Vilas Mahal
This 18th century palace beautifully blends the Rajput and Mughal styles of architecture. Although the ground floors have been converted into government offices and district courts, the upper apartment is maintained as a museum.

Government Museum
This museum displays a lovely collection of Mughal and Rajput painting dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries and some rare ancient manuscripts in Persian, Arabic, Urdu and Sanskrit. ‘Gulistan’ (the garden of roses), Waqiat-I-Babri’ (autobiography of Mughal emperor Babar) and Bostan (the garden of spring) are some of the notable ones amongst the collection.

It also has the copy of the great epic ‘Mahabharata’ painted by the artists of the Alwar school. A rich collection of the Indian armoury are among other exhibits of the museum.

Timings: 10.00 hrs. to 17.00 hrs.
(closed on Fridays and gazetted holidays, Free entry on Monday.)

Excursions

Vijay Mandir Palace(10 km)
Merely 10 kms from the city of Alwar is this palace built by Maharaja Jai Singh in 1918 A.D. It has a picturesque lake overlooking the palace. The Sita Ram Temple in the palace attracts large number of devotees, especially during Ramnavmi. But one needs to take prior permission from the secretary to visit the palace.

Siliserh Lake Palace Hotel (13 km)
This is a nice picnic spot with a lovely landscape full of wooded hills and beautiful chhatris on the banks of the 10.5 sq. km lake. Overlooking the lake is the magnificent royal palace and the hunting lodge, built by Maharaja Vinay Singh in 1845 A. D. for his queen Shila. This palace has been converted to Hotel Lake Palace, and offers boating and sailing facilities.

Jaisamand Lake(6 km)
This beautiful artificial lake just 6 kms from Alwar was constructed by Maharaja Jai Singh in 1910 A.D. It is a popular spot for outing and picnics, especially during monsoons, when the greeny spread all around gives a cool retreat to one's eyes.

Sariska (37 km)
Merely 37 kms. from Alwar Sariska is a thickly wooded reserve nested in the picturesque valley of the Aravalis. It sprawls 765.80 sq.km. and was established in 1955.

It is one of the best tiger sanctuaries and was brought under the Project Tiger in 1979.

The forests of the reserve are noted for their population of tiger, nilgai, sambhar, cheetal, four horned antelope and wild boar. The ruins of 9th and 10th century temples also exist here.

There is also the lovely Sariska Palace built by Maharaja Jai Singh in the honour of the Duke of Edinburgh during his visit to the sanctuary.