Lake Pichola

Lake Pichola, situated in Udaipur city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, is an artificial fresh water lake, created in the year 1362, named after the nearby Picholi village.[1][2] It is one of the several contiguous lakes, and developed over the last few centuries in and around the famous Udaipur city. The lakes around Udaipur were primarily created by building dams to meet the drinking water and irrigation needs of the city and its neighbourhood. Two islands, Jag Niwas and Jag Mandir are located within Pichola Lake, and have been developed with several palaces to provide views of the lake.[1][3]

There are four islands on the lake:

Jag Niwas, where the Lake Palace is built.
Jag Mandir, with the palace of the same name.
Mohan Mandir, from where the king would watch the annual Gangaur festival celebration.
Arsi Vilas, small island which was an ammunition depot, but also a small palace. This one was built by one of the Maharanas of Udaipur to enjoy the sunset on the lake. It is also a sanctuary catering to a variety of birds, including tufted ducks, coots, egrets, terns, cormorants and kingfishers.

Three of the numerous lakes found in the vicinity of Udaipur which connect with the Pichola lake and the Swaroop Sagar Lake connected by an arched bridge built by Maharana Swaroop Singh (1842-1861) which in turn connects to the Fateh Sagar Lake, the crystal watered lake in the midst of tree lined hills and the smaller Arsi Vilas.[1][3]

Access

Further information: Udaipur

Lake Pichola is approachable by road from Udaipur City. Local buses, Tongas, auto-rickshaws and taxis provide the needed transport. The lake is adjacent to the Bagore Ki Haveli[4] museum, making it a good landmark. Udaipur, in turn, is well connected through the Golden Quadrilateral road network, and it lies equidistant, at 650 kilometres, from Delhi and Mumbai on the National Highway (NH) 8. Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan is 6 hours by road and a 3.5 hours drive from Ahmedabad to Udaipur. Rajasthan Tourism operates a regular bus service from Delhi. It also falls on the East-West Corridor which starts from Porbandar and ends at Silchar and intersects the Golden Quadrilateral and a part of this is the stretch from Udaipur to Chittor. 24 km from the lake is the Dabok Airport which connects to Delhi and Bombay. Udaipur Railway Station and Maharana Pratap Bus Stand are both 3 km away from the Lake.

History

Pichola Lake was built in 1362 AD. It is a hearsay that is was built by a banjara (gypsy) and it got its name from nearby village Picholi, during the reign of Maharana Lakha.[5] Later, Maharana Udai Singh, impressed by the charm of this lake with the backdrop of green hills, founded the city of Udaipur on the banks of the lake and also enlarged the Lake by constructing a stone masonry dam in the Badipol region on the shore of the Lake.[1]