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]
 Lake Pichola

Lake Pichola

Location of Lake
Pichola in
Rajasthan
Show map of Rajasthan
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Location Rajasthan

Coordinates 24.572°N 73.679°E (ht

tps://geohack.toolforg
 e.org/geohack.php?pa
gename=Lake_Pichola
&params=24.572_N_7
3.679_E_type:waterbo
dy)

Lake type Freshwater Lake

Catchment area 55 km2 (21 sq mi)

Basin countries India

Managing agency Arvind Singh Mewar

Max. length 4 km (2.5 mi)

Max. width 3 km (1.9 mi)

Surface area 696 ha (1,720 acres)

Average depth 4.32 m (14.2 ft)

Max. depth 8.5 m (28 ft)

Water volume 13.08 million cubic
metres
(462 ×106 cu ft)

Islands Jag Niwas, the Jag

Mandir and Arsi Vilas

Settlements Udaipur

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

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 it 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]
Udaipur Panorama from Jag Mandir Island

The lake's surroundings and the several

islands within the lake have been
developed over the centuries, with palaces,
marble temples, family mansions, bathing
ghats or chabutaras (a raised platform,
normally within a courtyard); some of the
famous ones are the Lake Palace (now
converted into a heritage hotel) in the
middle of the lake also called the Pichola
Palace (pictured) or Jag Nivas located on
the Jag Island, the Jag Mandir, the Mohan
Mandir (in the northeast corner of the lake
built by Jagat Singh between 1628 and
1652), the City Palace of Udaipur (Bansi
Ghat) from where boats ply to all other
parts of the Lake, the Arsi Vilas Island,
which is a sanctuary for birds and the
Sitamata Game Sanctuary on the western
shore of the Lake.[3][6]

At several locations where the lake

narrows, ornamental arch bridges have
been built to span the waterway between
the banks.[3][7]

Hydrology and technical

details

The Sisarma stream, a tributary of the

Kotra River, drains a catchment of 55 km2
from the Aravalli Mountains and
contributes to the flows in the lake.[8] The
average annual rainfall in the lake basin is
635 millimetres (25.0 in). The lake has a
surface area of about 696 ha. It is 4
kilometres (2.5 mi) long and 3 kilometres
(1.9 mi) wide, and has depth varying from
a minimum of 4.32 metres (14.2 ft) to a
maximum of 8.5 metres (28 ft). In the
heart of the Lake, a palace called the Lake
Palace was built, which is now converted
into a heritage palace hotel. This palace
built in marble in 1746 by Maharana Jagat
Singh II, 62nd successor to the royal
dynasty of Mewar, spreads across the 1.6
hectares (4.0 acres) island and is claimed
to be as impressive as the Taj Mahal. At
the southern end, a dam was built across
the major tributary to facilitate the Banjara
tribesman to ford the stream with animals
carrying grains. After 1560, Maharana Udai
Sing II strengthened the dam (to a height
of 15.24 m) when he established the city
of Udaipur around the picturesque Lake.
Machchala Magra hill, to the south of the
city palace complex, is part of the old city
wall and the small fort of Eklinggarh and
the temple.[3][6][9][10] The fact that the
Pichola lake was built by nomadic gypsies
testifies that the rulers of Mewar
encouraged people to build water
harvesting structures.[11]
During drought conditions because of
lower rainfall & degradation of the
catchment the lake becomes dry
(pictured). During the years 1998 to July
2005. the Lakes of Udaipur were
reportedly dry.[8]

Udaipur Panorama with dried Lake Pichola

Water quality

According to a study carried out by the

"Centre of Advanced Study in Geology",
Punjab University, the water quality of the
lake has a high sodium and Bicarbonate
content, which is attributed to the
continental weathering due to
anthropogenic pressure (tourist influx),
intense development activities in the basin
area and untreated effluent from municipal
and domestic sewage into the Lake. The
semi arid conditions of the area, saline and
alkaline soils/groundwater conditions and
weathering of the silicate rock exposed in
the drainage basin are assessed as the
reasons for the supply of major ions. The
report infers[12] that

The increase in phosphate

loading and consequent
depletion of silica suggests
biological consumption of the
latter. The observed chemical
data of the Pichola Lake was
used to predict the mineral
assemblages in the carbonate
and aluminosilicate system. It
demonstrates that calcite and
dolomite are the possible
minerals that are in equilibrium
with the lake water system and
that the lake water chemistry is
in the range of stability of
kaolinite
The average of the pollution parameters
recorded at random intervals during 2005-
2006 as reported by the Rajasthan State
Pollution Control Board in 2006 are:[13]

Dissolved Oxygen 6.33 mg/L; pH Value

No.8.27; BOD 2.66 mg/L; Nitrate
0.11 mg/L; Nitrite 0.0045 mg/L; Fecal
Coliform 16 MPN/100; and Total
Coliform 110 MPN/100.

The assessment of quality status

determined that water is polluted and
needs remedial measures to be
implemented to rectify the situation.[13]
Studies conducted by Jheel Sanrakshan
Samiti (Udaipur Lake Conservation
Society) – JSS - a Non Governmental
Organization (NGO) set up in 1992 for
Ecological, Limnological and Hydrological
Conservation of Udaipur Lake System, has
found growth of water hyacinth, the lake
bottom is also covered with a thick mat of
submerged vegetation, presence of
floating micro algae which are detrimental
to the public health, and also harbor
varieties of harmful organisms. This
degree of pollution makes chlorination and
treatment by other chemicals ineffective to
render the water potable.[8]
Threats to the lake

Some of the issues identified as causes

for deterioration of the Lake
environment[14] are:

Polluted due to disposal of sewerage

directly into surface drains or surface
water body
Large-scale and uncontrolled mining of
marble and other minerals leading to
heavy deforestation of hill slopes.
Catchment area degradation and soil
erosion causing deposition of sediments
into the Lake and disturbance to the
ecosystem of the area.
Encroachments
Dumping of solid, liquid waste,
destruction of submergence areas and
over exploitation of water
Poor governance
Lack of citizens and stakeholders
participation in management of the Lake
Due to deteriorated water quality, out of
42 species of fishes including Mahseer
and all major carp fishes only 17
species of fishes have survived.
Lake restoration works

Steps undertaken to restore the lakes by

the NGOs, such as JSS and concerned
government organizations are:[8]

Water hyacinth has been eradicated

Biological measures undertaken
Sewerage plan has been partly
implemented.
Catchment area conservation of the
Pichhola Watershed project of Rs 34.2
million covering an area of 12702 ha
under funding of the Government of
India is under implementation
List of Lakes in India

List of lakes in India

Gallery

City Palace on Lake Pichola

Ghats on the lake

Jag Mandir on Lake Pichola.

Sunset at Pichola lake, seen from Karni Mata
Temple
Boats floating in Lake Pichola, and Jag
Mandir in background, in a typical cloudy day
in rainy season.
Boats at the lake.

Lake Palace on Lake Pichola.

References

1. "Pichola Lake" (http://www.udaipur.org.uk/l

akes/pichola-lake.html) .
2. "Lakes" (https://web.archive.org/web/2010
0819233456/http://udaipur.nic.in/lake.ht
m) . Archived from the original (http://udai
pur.nic.in/lake.htm) on 19 August 2010.
3. "Lake Pichola Udaipur" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20081027110153/http://www.in
diasite.com/rajasthan/udaipur/lakepichola.
html) . Archived from the original (https://w
ww.thepalaceonwheels.org/blog/travel-gui
de-lake-pichola-udaipur/) on 27 October
2008.
4. "Bagore Ki Haveli Udaipur (Entry Fee,
Timings, History, Images, Location & Entry
ticket cost price) - Udaipur Tourism 2022"
(https://udaipurtourism.co.in/bagore-ki-hav
eli-udaipur) .
5. "Udaypur Rajya Ka Itihas" (https://archive.or
g/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283225/page/n
42/mode/1up?view=theater) . 1938.
6. "Lake Pichola: LAKES" (https://web.archive.
org/web/20100819233456/http://udaipur.n
ic.in/lake.htm) . Archived from the original
(http://udaipur.nic.in/lake.htm) on 19
August 2010.
7. "Udaipur - An Imperial Aura" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20081006230811/http://ww
w.rajasthanunlimited.com/udaipur.html) .
Archived from the original (http://www.raja
sthanunlimited.com/udaipur.html) on 6
October 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
8. "Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti (Udaipur Lake
Conservation Society)" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20090716124749/http://greeni
ngindia.net/index2.php?option=com_conte
nt&do_pdf=1&id=23) . Archived from the
original (http://greeningindia.net/index2.ph
p?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=23)
on 16 July 2009.
 9. "Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur" (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20100805074811/http://www.
tajhotels.com/palace/Taj%20Lake%20Pala
ce%2CUdaipur/) . Archived from the
original (http://www.tajhotels.com/palace/
Taj%20Lake%20Palace,Udaipur/) on 5
August 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
10. "The House of Mewar – Lake palace Hotel"
(https://web.archive.org/web/2008050916
3437/http://www.mewarindia.com/comm/i
ndexcom2.html) . Archived from the
original (http://www.mewarindia.com/com
m/indexcom2.html) on 9 May 2008.
11. "Human Development Report 2006, Page 6,
Human Development Report Office UNDP,
Occasional Paper Community-led
Alternatives to Water Management: India
Case Study" (http://hdr.undp.org/en/report
s/global/hdr2006/papers/Narain_Sunita.pd
f) (PDF).
12. "Water chemistry and control of weathering
of Pichola Lake, Udaipur District, Rajasthan,
India" (http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN
&cpsidt=3060258) .
13. "Chapte5(Urban%20environment).pdf. P.7.
Urban Environment" (http://www.udaipurm
c.org/static/Pdf/) (pdf).
14. "City palace on the banks of lake Pichola"
(https://myudaipurcity.com/city-palace-udai
pur/) . February 2019.
External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related

to Lake Pichola.
All famous lakes in Udaipur Rajasthan (h
ttp://www.vedantawakeup.com/lakes-in-
udaipur/)
The Mewar Encyclopedia (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20090413154840/http://
www.mewarindia.com/ency/ency.html)
The Charm of Udaipur - Lake Pichola (htt
ps://lakeviewudaipur.com/pichola-lake-u
daipur/)

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