Rajsamand lake was built in the 17th century in 1660. It is 1.75miles wide, 4miles long and 60 feet deep. Built across Gomati, Tali and Kelwa rivers, it is one of the five lakes of Mewar region. 66kms north of Udaipur, the lake is in between Rajnagar and Kankroli. Since it was built by Maharana Rajsingh, it is also known as Rajsamudra lake.
The lake’s main water supply comes from river Gomati. On the southern side of the lake, a huge mound is made of white marble which has steps that touch the lake waters. 5 torans from where Maharana used to give alms to the needy can also be seen.
The embankment beauty is enhanced by 9 ghats or the “nauchowki”(नौ-चौकी)as it is locally called on which carvings of sun, chariots, birds and gods can still be seen. The most amazing part is that history of Mewar has been inscribed on 27 marble slabs in 1017 stanzas. These inscriptions are known as Raj Prashasti (राज प्रशस्ति), applauded as the longest etchings of India.
It is also said that this lake was made the seaplane base for Imperial Airways during World war II for a period of over 6 years. A couple of years back, when the water of the lake almost dried up, the anchor chains of those planes started showing up and they were somehow taken out of the lake with great effort because of the immense weight in them.
The lake looks extremely eye-catching during sunset with the water glittering like stars.