Sambhar Lake

Sambhar is a small town, located at a distance of 60kms in the west of Jaipur, on Jaipur-Ajmer Highway. Sambhar is famous for the largest saline lake in India. Due to this fact, Sambhar is also known as Salt Lake City. Literally, Sambhar means salt and the lake has been providing salt for over a thousand years. Various rulers of Jaipur and Jodhpur including Sindhias, Rajputs, Marathas and Mughals have owned the lake in their ruling periods. In 1870, it was leased to the British.

After independence, the lake was taken over by the government. In the present day, it is managed by Sambhar Salts Limited, a joint venture of Hindustan Salts and the Government of Rajasthan. Sambhar Lake elongates to the length of 22.5 kms. The lake is fed by several seasonal freshwater streams, two of the major ones being the rivers Mendha and Rupangarh. The vast lake has been divided into two sections by a 5-km long stone dam. On the eastern side of the dam, there are reservoirs for salt extraction where salt has been farmed for a thousand years.

To the eastern part of the dam, you will find a rail trolley system that was originally developed by the British to get across the dam and to access various outlying points in the salt works. On the sand-smothered lanes on the shore of the Lake, you will see reddish-pink office buildings of Sambhar Salts Ltd. You can also visit the salt laboratory and the salt museum on the terrain.

Sambhar Lake is a place where horizons stretch to perpetuity, where water and sky merge in a shimmer of gossamer blue. The waters here are glacially still, edged with a glittering frost of salt. Sambhar has been classified as a Ramsar site (recognized wetland of international importance) since the wetland is a residence for thousands of flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia in winters.

For bird-lovers, this is the best place to explore. Infact, the lure of Flamingos brings tourists to visit this salty lake. Myriad tall and dainty birds with their ballerina tutus come here to enjoy the delicious spirulina algae that thrive when the water reaches a medium degree of salinity. You can spot other birds too like pelicans, Storks, sandpipers, redshanks, black-winged stilts, coots, and shovelers float relaxing on the water.

There are many regarding the existence of the lake. According to one reference in the epic Mahabharata, Raja Yayati, emperor of Bharatvarsh (India) and a descendant of Lord Brahma the Creator, married Devyani, daughter of Shukracharya (the guru of demons) who lived by the Sambhar lake. As per another legend, the Goddess Shakambhari bestowed the lake for the benefit of people around 2,500 years ago. A small sparkling white temple in her honor stands in a rocky outcrop on the southern bank of Sambhar Lake.