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| Jaisamand lake,Rajasthan,India. planetphotos.net |
The Jaisamand
Dam with its large lake is located by the side of the Udaipur -
Banaswara highway, roughly 52 km from Udaipur City, Rajasthan.
It was built across the river Gomti during the reign of Maharana Jai
Singh of Mewar, who opened the dam in 1691 and distributed gold equal
to his own weight in charity to the workers, thus
following the tradition and chivalry of many of the prominent Indian kings
of the the medieval period.
Jaisamand
lake, also known
as Dhebar
Lake, is
the
second
largest artificial lake
in
the world after Aswan dam in Egypt, extending over an area of
thirty-six square kilometers. Nine miles in breadth, 102 feet deep
and having a circumference of 30 miles. This Marble Dam is 300 Meters
long and is a part of the “Heritage
Monuments of India“.
This
is one of the very old dams of India which still stands in good shape
without any seepage or any other structural damages even after 300
years of its existence.
During the
reign of Maharana Jai Singh the lake was designed
and built
to improve
agriculture and water management
in Mewar’s southeastern corner, and it was named after him. The
work of this dam began
during
his regime but was completed in later years. The
area consists
of eleven islands some of which are inhabited
by the tribe of Bhil Minas.
Jai samand Lake
is the
main water supplier
of
the city of Udaipur. The gross basin area up to the Jaisamand dam
site is 1787 km2. Droughts are a normal feature of the basin and
extreme events have become more frequent in recent decades
due to
over utilization of water and
truancy of Monsoon.
This dam
was
originally meant for recreation and
daily water requirements of of
the royal families, but from 1960 onwards it is being used to
irrigate 1650 hectares of land. Thee
is a wildlife sanctuary near by stretching
over sixty-four square kilometers and is rich in fauna with over 300
bird species. Attracted by the vast
expanse
of water of Jaisamand lake, a host of small birds, local and
migratory, roost
the sanctuary. There are also many exotic animals. It used to be a
favorite place for hunting by Maharajas in the bygone days.
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| Jaisamand lake,Rajasthan. udaipurblog.com |
The dam is a
composite structure with masonry walls and central earthern core
founded on Aravalli quartzite ( of Pre
-Cambrian age). This type of
quartzite, quarried locally, was
used in the masonry work. Besides, marble from Rajnagar, 67 km away
from the site was
extensively used
for constructing cenotaphs, the steps leading
to the
temple and the bathing ghats.
The spillway located on a saddle on the left bank is designed to pass
3849 cumec of water. Another saddle a little above is used to serve
as natural auxiliary spillway, in case of unusual flood discharge.
During 1973 floods which carried more than the designed discharge of
the spillway, this saddle helped in spilling of extra discharge that
saved over-flowing of the dam. This indicated the accuracy of the
survey conducted 300 years
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| Jaisamand lake,Rajasthan,India. udaipurblog.com |
Jaisalmand
lake and the islands are nature's gift where the one can not fathom
the nature's bounty. The
soul-stirring ambiance - the
Maharaja's palace,etc,
the placid lake and the
beautifully
carved cenotaphs and the
lush
green
surroundings will make the visitors go into a trance – a perfect
union with nature's wonderful creation.
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