sambhar lake is situated at a distance of 65 km from Jaipur on Phulera rail-route. This is the largest lake of saline water in India. The lake is a major source for salt production. The lake is divided by a 5-km long dam made of stone,190 sq km in extent at full capacity. This vast body of glacial saline is on average just 0.6 cm deep and never more than 3 m even just after the monsoon. It stretches in length for 22.5 km, its width varying between 3 and 11 km. Several seasonal freshwater streams, two of the major ones being the rivers Mendha and Rupangarh, feed it. According to one, reference in some 2,500 years ago 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 lake. A large population living in and around the lake depends upon the lake resources for sustenance. |
