Gadsisar Lake Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, a Refreshing Destination
“Come let me show you a patch of blue green water body in this Jaisalmer desert,” our taxi driver who doubled up as tourist guide directed us excitedly. It was a short walk up a tarred wide road when we reached the edge of a beautiful lake. “This is Gadsisar Lake, the most famous and oldest lake of Jaisalmer. It is 600 years old and was made by a King as a reservoir,” he went on and on. But who was listening?
I was so captivated by the serene surroundings of the lake that my other senses had numbed off. In my heart I was thanking him profusely to have brought me here. My thoughts were disturbed when I heard the boatman say, “Didi us paar jana hai? (meaning – sister you want to that side?)”
Gadsisar Lake Jaisalmer
I nodded my head, up and down, in quick affirmation. Within minutes we were at the structure in the middle of the lake.
History of Gadsisar Lake
The lake was founded in the year 1150 AD by King Rawal Jaisal but it was rebuilt couple of centuries later by Maharaja Gadsi Singh in the year 1367 AD. Hats off to him for the exemplary plan of connecting nine lakes and make this artificial lake by harvesting rainwater. The construction of lake was such that the extra water from higher level lake flowed into another at a lower level.
It is said the king himself contributed manually in constructing and designing the lake. Unfortunately he was killed by his scheming political opponents while supervising the construction. That did not stop the construction and the lake came to be known by his name in his honor.
Tilon ki Pol Gadsisar Lake
The lake shore is dotted with several heritage monuments like chhatris(tombs), temples, ghats, a bridge built by renowned courtesan Tilon in the year 1908 AD. Incidentally the bridge has an interesting story.
The then Prince of Jaisalmer felt it below his dignity to use the bridge built by a courtesan and planned to demolish it. Tilon cleverly made a small shrine, dedicated to Lord Krishna, in the middle of the bridge.
With the idol placed on the bridge and locals revering it, the Prince felt discouraged to demolish it. Ever since then the bridge came to be known as Tilon ki Pol (meaning – bridge of Tilon).
It was the sole source of drinking water till as recently as 1965. Today water is supplied to the city sourced from Dabla village, 15 km outskirts of Jaisalmer.
Ghat around Gadsisar Lake
Gadsisar Lake a Picnic Spot
Gadsisar Lake has now evolved in to a beautiful picnic spot. Many of the other lakes have dried up and many buildings have sprouted up within the area between the lakes but this one has maintained its serenity. The lake attracts lot of birds, bees and butterflies along with human traffic. Locals enjoy the environs here as much as the tourists.
For city bred tourists this was a luxury. For tourists like us from the cornered existence in the over crowded cities, to see the birds flock there in huge numbers was sheer ecstasy. And this was just early October, in the coming winter months more rare species were expected to flock around in the lake.
Fauna at Gadsisar Lake
The three elements that attract the winged creatures are food, shelter and water. May be if we make an effort to provide these things to our winged friends, they will not be lost in the concrete jungle we live. Birdbaths are always a welcome gesture. Do you have one?
Wild Geese on Lake shore
There were plenty of Catfish too, which were fed with bread pieces by the tourists. If this is not stampede what is this?
Catfish at Lake shore fed by tourists
It could have been fun watching the Catfish a little longer. My daughters didn’t want to budge, but we had lots lined for the day. Gadsisar Lake was the first halt for the day. We had Jaisalmer Fort, Patwon Ki Haveli and Sam sand dunes in the itinerary for Jaisalmer. Turning back to have one last look, filling in lungs with fresh air, I dragged my daughters out luring them with a camel ride at Sam sand dunes.
How to reach: The Lake is located about 1.5 km from Jaisalmer Fort. Jaisalmer city has an airport and railway station and is well connected with other parts of India with good roads. There are many public and private transports that will drop you off near the lake.
When to visit: September to early March are the best months to plan a trip to Jaisalmer. Many migratory birds from the nearby Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary visit the lake. Early mornings and evenings are best time to visit to get good sunset/sunrise pictures and bird photography.
Timings: The Lake is open on all days to all visitors. Boating services are open from 9 AM to 6 PM.
Tickets: No tickets required to enter the premises, however tickets are required if you intend to do boating in the lake.
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(Updated post. This was first published on Nov 21st, 2008.)
thank u,ur pictures help me in my ppt presentation 🙂
i remember seeing these before and I thought i had commented..lovely..what a simple trip showcases us 🙂
i remember seeing these before and I thought i had commented..lovely..what a simple trip showcases us 🙂
Unbelievable collection of photos! Enjoyed them all! But I was especially fascinated with that arched structure in the water that the birds seem to have adopted!
Beautiful pictures.
Beautiful critters and amazing shots.
Those fish shots are crazy!!! What kind of fish is that? Smart-fish?
Thanks for the post, I really enjoyed it. Makes me wonder what you will be putting together for My World tomorrow???
Some very interesting and cool pictures you have and wow that sure is a lot of fish.Thanks for the visit
Those are wonderful shots. We used to have a bird feeder but it got broken during a storm.
Amazing how those catfish squished in together like that.
Amazing photos! That last one I’ve never seen anything like it before!
Catfish I guess..can we call it a slither-ede instead? 😉
Glad to read your posts and learn about these places Indrani.:)
these are amazing photos and the group of fish surely is amazing. great job.
thanks for the visit to my blog.
Photo showing bunch of fishes is just amazing !
Wow! you have had a wonderful trip while i was gone on vacation. Amazing pics Indrani, will return to read more in detail.
Great pics Indrani. And the fish – unbelievable except that Ive seen some like that in the tank of the Mylapore temple. ‘Flapede’ all right.
Do yo have any similar post on Delhi? Plan to visit in a couple of months so you would be a great guide.
i have throughly enjoyed your site and photos, especially the cranes and the indian women and jewelry. so interesting to see bits of the other side of the world. 🙂 thanks for stopping by my place.
Fantastic series of photos. What gorgeous buildings. Fabulous post. I looked through your post below to and you take some stunning photos!
Your fish photos are intense and very interesting. Nice subject.
A wonderful post!
Are the catfish alive? I don’t see how they can be out of the water like that.
Amazing photos!
Beautiful photos!
Hi!
Awesome Photos! You are right about providing for the birds, and yes I have a bird bath! Thanks for stopping by my place. Take Care!!
Sherrie
STAMPEDE!! LOL… bet you could hear them from miles away! hehehe…
What an amazing post! I found this totally fascinating!! WOW… =)
~Michele~Mountain Retreat- Canada
So unusual and exotic. Lucky birds, to come there. And feeding frenzy for the fish.
Such interesting photos you took.
WOW! Those are amazing photos! Hopefully someday, I can visit:)
Always great photos here… Yes very beautiful !
See You later !
A nice presentation…..
wow!! superb captures all!!
It is a stampede, all right!
Wonderful pictures. Your record of your Rajasthan trip is I hope appreciated by the Department of Tourism there. 🙂
Thanks, Deborah. That structure is not a temple, but may be a spot for the kings of those days to chill out. 🙂
Thanks, Thyme and Bengbeng! There are over 2000 species of catfish, one of those species there.
i took a further look at the fish . at first i thought they were a form of prawns or crabs. i now think they r catfish?
You have the most amazing photo’s of beautiful buildings. India must be full of them! What a wonderful country. And industry does not seem to have spoilt it all yet.
I had to look twice to recognize the fish, their antenna and eyes look much like a mass of thin wiry spiders.
Remarkable photos! Especially that big bunch, herd, group, school, whatever, of catfish! I wonder what those structures are in the middle of the water. One looks like it might be a temple or special spot of some kind?