Manasbal lake – The Deepest Lake of India
- toursandjourneys
- Nov 16, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 20, 2020
Discover offbeat trails of Kashmir with our travel expert Reetwika Banerjee
The valley of Kashmir offers Eye Catching freshwater lakes, the most popular being Dal Lake witch is also known is Lake of Flowers. Within a distance of only 32 kilometers from the state capital Srinagar in jammu and Kashmir, there is another Beautiful water body named Manasbal Lake, which is possibly the deepest lake of India. It derives its name from the holy Manasarovar in Tibet. Nothing could have stopped us from visiting it after knowing such an exciting information about the lake.
Glimpse of Manasbal Lake
We started our half day trip to Manasbal lake. It took us exactly one hour by road to reach there from our hotel at Srinagar. Though there were no formal entry fees, but a guy sitting on the grasses at the entrance charged us Rs. 15/- per head for lakeside entry, against no invoice of course. Sonu, our gloomy driver, was back again to bore us with his sadist looks. Before he could utter a word, I asked him to park the car at the adjoining kuccha road and walked straight inside.
Shikara rides on Manasbal Lake
The dimensions of Manasbal Lake talk a lot about its glory. The perimeter of the lake will be approximately 11 kilometers, heightened by a concrete pavement which was beautifully decorated by flowering plants along the circular trail. However, the primary statistics of the lake is not its circumference but its vertical depth. Yes, the waterbed stands at a depth of more than 43 feet which marks its claim for the deepest lake of India. Shikara rides here are as popular as in Dal Lake. One can also see the ruins of Jarokabagh Palace and Mughal Gardens but the surrounding beauty is not so pleasant as in the latter.
In and around the lake and waterside park
Just as we entered the lake premises, we found lots of Kashmiri students playing at the waterside park. In fact it’s not just here, all the popular tourist spots we visited except Gulmar(A Hill Station), we came across numerous school students. Probably it’s part of their academic curriculum to take students for excursion during summer.
School students on educational tour
As we posed to take some snaps around the lake, I could hear three Kashmiri beautiful girls were whispering something. As we turned towards them, they threw a shy smile together. We too smiled back. It seemed as though they were interested to take to kick off a conversation with us.
In conversation with three Kashmiri beautiful Girls
They were from a nearby village named Safapora, studying at their matriculation level. They were in pink and white churidar, probably their school uniform, with a white churni wound all around their head. They looked quite modern than usual conservative girls of Kashmir. They were speaking in perfect Urdu. Except a few words, we could decipher most of their dialogues and responded back in Hindi.
However, one observation amazed us. They kept talking about couple of Hindi TV serials aired in Star Plus, particularly about two female characters. Probably, as we guessed from their curiosity, they misjudged me to be their anticipated lady on screen. One of the girls politely requested me to take a selfie with her.They told their name Shabnam, Ishrat and Nafiza, of which Shabnam left her contact number.
Other school students in the waterside park
At Manasbal Lake park
There were other students in different uniforms, seemed to be from different schools, all around the lake and park. They too responded differently, as they found us around. More selfie requests flooded our hours at Manasbal Lake. Knowing us from Bengal, they asked for some onion pakoras (peyaji as we call in Bengali), but unfortunately we were not carrying any food with us that day. Nevertheless, it was a different experience altogether.
View of Chinar and flowering plants at Manasbal
During our visit, ample lotus plantations were found at the eastern side of the lake but it is said that during autumn months, they bloom to the maximum. Locales also cultivate the plants here as the edible portion of lotus stem, root and seeds are auctioned at steep rates during peak season.
It was about to 1-pm when we started back our journey. We reached Srinagar by lunchtime.
Concrete walkway along the Manasbal Lake
To avoid the sun shining bright above your head, you can opt for caps and umbrellas. Sunglasses are also a good way of protecting your eyes from all the uncomfortable rays.So If Ever Think About To Visit The Most Probably Deepest Lake of India Than You Should Visit Manasbal Lake. Thanks For Visiting My Blog.
Do carry hats, sunglasses and umbrellas while visiting Manasbal. Hats and sunglasses are trendy and instantly glams up your look, and umbrellas come to your rescue if the weather becomes too sunny or starts raining suddenly.
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