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Dal Lake in Srinagar in Kashmir is known for its houseboats. The lake is an ideal site for enjoying swimming, kayaking, canoeing, angling, Shikara riding and water surfing besides ride in houseboats. This place is also ideal for fishing along with water plant harvesting. The lake is popularly known as ‘Srinagar’s Jewel’ or ‘Jewel in the crown of Kashmir'. The lake is spread over an area of 26 sq. km. Its length and width are 7.44 kilometres and 3.5 kilometres respectively. The average elevation of the lake is 1,583 metres. The depth of water varies from six metres at its deepest in Nagin Lake to 2.5 metres, the shallowest, at Gagribal. The lake has a shore length of 15.5 kilometres and roads run all along the periphery. The lake is located within a catchment area covering 316 square kilometres in the Zabarwan Mountain Valley in the foothills of Himalayan range, which surrounds it on three sides. Two theories for the formation of the lake have been formulated. One version is that it is the remnants of a post-glacial lake, which has undergone drastic changes in size over the years. The other theory is that it is of fluvial origin from an old flood spill channel or ox-bows of Jhelum River. Dal Lake was mentioned as Mahasarit in Sanskrit. It is believed that Goddess Durga lived in a village known as Isabar to the east of the present lake. The shoreline is encompassed by a boulevard lined with Mughal era gardens, parks, houseboats and hotels. Scenic views of the lake can be witnessed from the shoreline Mughal gardens such as Shalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh built during the reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and from houseboats cruising along the lake. The Mughal emperors used the Lake area as their summer retreat. It was the Britishers who encouraged the commissioning of lavish houseboats. They have been referred to as ‘each one a little piece of England afloat of Dal Lake’. The houseboat cruise industry is a major revenue earner for the region. The fishing industry is central to the livelihood of many people who reside on lake's periphery. The lake's commercial fisheries are particularly reliant on carp fish species, which were introduced into the lake in 1957. The lake has numerous sites and places of interest in its neighbourhood. Besides the Shalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh, the other places frequented by tourists are Shankaracharya Temple, Hari Parbat, Nagin Lake, Chashme Shahi and Hazratbal Shrine. The precincts of the lake experience a temperature ranging from one degree Celsius to minus 11 degree Celsius in winter and from12 degree Celsius to 32 degree Celsius in summer. When the temperature reaches minus 11 degree Celsius, it freezes the Dal Lake. For More Info: Dal Lake Srinagar and Places to Visit in Srinagar
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Dal Lake Srinagar, Places to Visit in Srinagar,
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