19/10/2013
Dhebar Lake (also known as Jaisamand Lake) is Asia's second-largest artificial lake (is considered largest now, since the Upper lake in Bhopal, India is the largest artificial lake in Asia, but is almost dried up due to lack of rainfall).[citation needed] It is located in the Udaipur District of Rajasthan state in western India. It has an area of 87 km2 (34 sq mi) when full, and was created in the 17th century when Rana Jai Singh of Udaipur built a marble dam across the Gomati River. It is 45 km from District head quarter of Udaipur. When first built, it was the largest artificial lake in the world. The surrounding Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary around Dhebar Lake can be reached by the state highway to Baswara from Udaipur. It is 27 km from Parsad (A village on National Highway No. 8). The Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary protects 162 km², mostly teak forest, on the shores of Dhebar Lake. The lake has a total number of 3 islands measuring from 10 to 40 acres (160,000 m2) each. The Dhebar Lake Marble Dam is 300 Meters long and is a part of the "Heritage Monuments of India". The dam also has the Hawa Mahal Palace, winter Capital of the erstwhile Maharana’s of Mewar.....
Dhebar Lake, built by Maharana Jai Singh in 1685, is the second biggest artificial lake in the world covering an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). The lake remained the largest artificial lake in the world till the building of the Aswan dam in Egypt by the British in 1902, that was reconstructed between 1960-1970. During the reign of Maharana JAI SINGH (1680–1698), there was a great need for water for cultivation in Mewar's southeastern corner. The Maharana emulated his father (Maharana RAJ SINGH I who built RAJSAMAND LAKE) by damming a small river, the Gomati, and building a massive embankment; the height of the dam is 36.6 meters. 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 (14 km) in breadth, 102 feet (31 m) deep at its deepest end, a circumference of 30 miles (48 km), with marble staircases leading into the water. The summer palaces of the Queens of Udaipur surround Dhebar Lake on all sides.
