Udaipur-Venice of East

UDAIPUR also called city of Lakes......

PICHOLA

Pichola Lake is one of the most beautiful and picturesque lakes of Rajasthan, India. Located in the heart of the city, Pichola Lake is the oldest and one of the largest lakes of Udaipur.

Pichola Lake the beautiful expanse of water that surrounds the islands of the Lake Palace Hotel (JAG NIWAS) and JAG MANDIR. The backdrop of the overlooking City Palace gives this lake its name-Pichola.Apart from this there is also an another version about it's name.It says that the name comes from the nearby small village of Picholi and was originally created early in the 15th century by a local Banjara tribesman who transported grain.

In 1560, a year after Maharana UDAI SINGH II began building his new capital of Udaipur around the shore, he strengthened the dam and greatly enlarged the lake. Apart from the two large islands, there are several smaller ones, among them are ARSI VILAS, which is a heaven for birds, and a platform, NATNI-KA-CHABUTRA, which has its own legend . At the northern end of the lake is the old town with its ghats and ceremonial ghat where the Gangaur Festival is celebrated with fireworks and illuminations. The height of the dam is 15.24 m. in the Badi Pol area.

Along its eastern shore sprawls the massive CITY PALACE. South of this is the hill known as MACHHALA MAGRA where part of the old city wall and the small fort of Eklinggarh can still be seen. Beyond this is the SHIKARBADI HOTEL, once the Khasi Odi, or hunting lodge, of the Maharanas. When full, Pichola Lake covers an area of almost 1.5 sq km.

FATEH SAGAR

The pride of the City of Lakes, this lake was constructed towards the north of Lake Pichola.Lake and was built by Maharana Jai Singh but it got the name of Fateh Singh who rebuilt its dam. Fateh Sagar, the second of Udaipur's four man-made lakes.

In 1678, Maharana JAI SINGH (1680-1698), who had already constructed the famous JAISAMAND LAKE southeast of Udaipur, excavated this new but small lake. It lies immediately to the north of, and connected by a canal to PICHOLA LAKE, which had been established by Maharana UDAI SINGH II a century earlier.

Fateh Sagar is 2.4 km. long, 1.6 km. wide and 11.5 m. at its deepest point; when full, it covers an area of about 1 sq. km., being fed by the Ahar (Berach) river.

Three small islands grace Fateh Sagar, the largest being NEHRU PARK, a popular garden island with a restaurant and zoo, which is reached by inboard motor boats from the bottom of Moti Magri Hill. The Government of Rajasthan made the second island into a public park with a spectacular water-jet fountain, and the third houses the UDAIPUR SOLAR OBSERVATORY, the largest in Asia. A peaceful spot not far from the city centre, the lake is a popular leisure area for picnics and water recreation in hired pedal boats. Because of Fateh Sagar's blue waters and its backdrop of green hills, it is often referred to as the second Kashmir, an epithet often given to all of Udaipur.

UDAI SAGAR

A picturesque lake about the same size as Rajsamand Lake, 15 km. east of Udaipur on the Berach river. Maharana UDAI SINGH II (1537-1572), expecting the threat of war, ordered and laid the foundation stone of the massive dam in February, 1559, mainly to give the city a secure water supply and, later, for agricultural and leisure purposes. The lake was completed by 1565. Its greatest depth is 9 m.; it is 4 km. long, and 2.5 km. wide, and covers an area of 10.5 sq km. It has a storage capacity of 23.4 mil.cu.m. The 54-m. embankment was built with stones from the bund of other lakes.

Although it has withstood heavy rains, if the lake does overflow, the water will be channeled into the Berach River. In 1573, Kunwar MAAN SINGH invited Maharana PRATAP SINGH I to meet him on this embankment to discuss terms of surrendering to Mughal Emperor AKBAR; Pratap refused the invitation and insulted the Rajput traitor, which led to the Battle of HALDIGHATI (June, 1576). And it was near Udai Sagar that Maharana Raj Singh (1653-1680) defeated the army of Emperor AURANGZEB.

JAISAMAND

Jaisamand Lake is also known as Dhebar.The lake, built by Maharana Jai Singh in 1685, is the second biggest artificial lake of the world covering an area of 36sq km. The lake remained the largest artificial lake in the world till the building of the Aswan dam in Egypt.

Maharana Jai Singh named the resultant lake JAISAMAND after himself - its often-used nickname is 'Ocean of Victory' ('mand' meaning 'ocean').On the day of its inauguration, June 2 1691, Maharana Jai Singh walked around the dam charitably distributing gold equal to his own weight.

The statistics of the lake is really amazing - 9 miles in breadth, 102 feet deep at its deepest end, a circumference of 30 miles with marble staircases leading into the water. The summer palaces of the Queens of Udaipur surround Jaisamand Lake on all sides.

There are seven islands on this lake and the tribe of Bhil Minas (see People of Rajasthan) inhabits all There is a bund on the lake, which has to be mentioned due to its sheer size - 1202 feet long, 116 feet high and 70 feet broad at the base. On the dam are six exotic cenotaphs and a Shiva temple in the centre.

SWAROOP SAGAR

Swaroop Sagar is a small artificial lake that was created by Maharana Swaroop Singh. The lake was subsequently named after him. It is also known as Kumharia Talab. Located behind the famous Jagdish Temple, Kumharia Talab is near Chand Pol adjoining Rangsagar. The lake was actually built to provide water to the people of Udaipur. Kumharia Talab is connected with Lake Pichola and Fateh Sagar Lake.

BADI TALAB

Jiyan Sagar is another striking lake, located in the village of Badi. Built by Maharana Raj Singh, Jiyan Sagar was built to deal with the problem of famine in the area. The lake was named after Jana Devi, mother of Raj Singh. Jiyan Sagar is also known as Badi Ka Talab. It sprawls in an area of 155 sq. km. and the embankment of the lake extends to the length of 180 meters and width of 18 meters. Jiyan Sagar also adores three artistic kiosks (chattris)

Source :udipur.nic.in