SOMETIMES EVEN A queen must splay on a chaise lounge. What else is she to do when her lungs are filled with the soot of Mumbai’s bustling metropolis, her breath heavy with the exciting drudge of nurturing babies, books, and Bollywood scripts?

To life we must all go. Or, in my case, to a spa. So, I shake the ennui off my weary limbs and slip my feet into The Leela Palace’s velvety slippers. I run my hands over my suite’s mother-of-pearl marble inlays, the cushions with zardozi designs, the heritage artwork, and the thikri glass murals that date back 400 years. My fingers tingle from drawing lineage to the centuries-old culture of Mewar — a princely region in India’s regal state of Rajasthan — by which this lakeside retreat in Udaipur is inspired.

I walk through the delicately latticed jharokha balconies. The rhythmic beat of folk music sung by an enthusiastic quartet rises from the inner courtyard, infused with the ambient sound of water from the ubiquitous water fountains. These nods to the erstwhile local customs and traditions lend an uptick to my spirit. I twirl under the domed havelis of this modern-day palace. Ambling past the landscaped courtyards and the pool flanked by stone peacocks, I watch quivering sparrows come for nibbles to the lakeside restaurant’s table. A chiku fruit has fallen from a tree in the palace garden. I offer it to a curious squirrel.

I ponder whether kings got massages to heal from wars. There’s no historical record of it. Not even of Maharana Pratap Singh, who was considered the most powerful king of Mewar. But if there’s a tradition worth keeping, this one is definitely it.

After my 60-minute massage, I am tempted to take a dip in the private pool attached to my therapy suite. But I’m accustomed to the sultry climes of Mumbai, so it’s chilly. Instead, I bathe with Tishya by The Leela bath amenities (the name Tishya means joy and happiness in Sanskrit), a line of vegan and paraben- and SLS-free products, with a natural, locally inspired floral scent. I am then offered a one-on-one yoga class in the meditation tent, a chance to hit The Health Club, or to pop into the gym for a steam. I save these options for a less languorous day.

For now, I sip on green tea as a private chef serves me a curated and portioned meal from The Leela’s freshly minted initiative: Aujasya. Widely regarded as a disruptor in India’s dining industry, Aujasya finds the right nutritional matrix between health needs and gastronomic expectations, replicating the traditional techniques of classical cooking and the knowledge of Indigenous ingredients to create nourishing food for the heart and mind. It changes the facets of a dish instead of changing the dish itself.