Mansar Lake is a lake located in Mansar in the Samba district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located 19 km from

Samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

town & from the city of

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

. It is fringed by forest-covered hills, and is over a mile () in length and half a mile () in width. Surinsar-Mansar Lakes were designated as

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

sites in November 2005. Mansar is primarily fed by surface run-off and partially by mineralised water through paddy fields. The lake supports

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

red-listed ''Lissemys punctuata'', ''Aspideretes gangeticus,'' and ''Mansariella lacustris''. The composite lake is high in micro nutrients for which makes it an attractive habitat, breeding and nursery ground for migratory waterfowl like ''Fulica atra'', ''Gallinula chloropus'', ''Podiceps nigricollis'', ''Aythya fuligula,'' and various Anas species.

About

Besides being a popular excursion destination in Jammu, it is also a holy site, sharing the legend and sanctity of

Lake Manasarovar Lake Manasarovar also called Mapam Yumtso (; ) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located at an elevation of , near the western trijunction ...

. On the Eastern Bank of the Lake, there is a shrine to

Shesha Shesha (), also known by his epithets Sheshanaga () and Adishesha (), is a serpentine demigod ( naga) and king of the serpents ( Nagaraja), as well as a primordial being of creation in Hinduism. In the Puranas, Shesha is said to hold all the ...

(the serpent mount of Vishnu). The shrine comprises a big boulder on which are placed several iron chains, perhaps representing the small serpents waiting on the tutelary deity of Shesha. Two ancient temples of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, Narasimha, as well as a temple of

Durga Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...

, are situated in the vicinity of the Mansar Lake. People take a holy dip in the water of the lake on festive occasions. Newlyweds consider it auspicious to perform three circumambulations (''

parikrama Parikrama or Pradakshina is clockwise circumambulation of sacred entities, and the path along which this is performed, as practiced in the Indian religions, Indic religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it refers only ...

'') around the lake to seek the blessings of Shesha, the lord of serpents, whose shrine is located on its eastern bank. Certain communities of

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

perform the '' mundana'' ceremony (First haircut) of their male children here. There are also some ancient temples on the lake's shores, which are visited by devotees in large numbers. Mansar is also ideal for boating for which the Tourism Department provides adequate facilities. This Mansar lake road joins another important road that directly links

Pathankot Pathankot () is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the sixth most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal ...

(Punjab) to Udhampur (Jammu & Kashmir, Jammu Province. Udhampur is a Town of strategic importance, again on National Highway No. 1A. The

shortcut Shortcut may refer to: Navigation * Rat running or shortcut, a minor-road alternative to a signposted route * File shortcut, a handle which allows the user to find a file or resource located in a different directory or folder on a computer * Key ...

road from Mansar or Samba to Udhampur by-passes the Jammu town. Surinsar Lake, a smaller lake that is linked to Mansar, is from

(via a bypass road).

Flora and fauna

The areas around Mansar Lake are rich in forests. Many types of trees, such as Scrub, Peepal , and

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

, are found here. The lake is bordered by

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

trees and provides shelter to several

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

and

animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...

. There is also a wildlife sanctuary near the lake which provides a home to several Birds and Animals such as Spotted Deer,

Nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Boselaphus'', which was ...

, Cranes , and

Ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

. Many types of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

and

Tortoises Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard ...

are also found in the

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

. Some types of

Snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

are also found in the lake.

Legend

According to local tradition based on the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

, Babruvahana, the son of

Arjuna Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...

and Ulupi, was the ruler of this area during that time. After the war, Arjuna performed a ritual called the ashvamedha yajna to prove his mettle and vantage over the land. Babruvahana captured the horse, which was the power symbol of the yajna, at Khoon village near Dhar Udhampur road, where later on Babruvahana killed Arjuna. After the victory, Babruvahana shared his success with his mother by presenting the head of Arjuna to her. After knowing that Arjuna was his father, Babruvahana wanted to get Arjuna back. Therefore, he had to procure Mani from Shesha. For that, Babruvahana made a tunnel with his arrow, which was known as Surangsar. After defeating Shesha and capturing the mani, he came out of Manisar (Mansar), which was the other end of the tunnel.https://www.jktdc.co.in/Mansar-Lake.aspx

Gallery

File:Boating in mansar lake.png, Boating in Mansar Lake File:Mansar lake fishes.png, Mansar Lake fishes File:Mansar lake footpath.png, Mansar Lake footpath File:Ducks near mansar lake.png, Ducks near the Mansar Lake

References

{{Authority control Lakes of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu Division Ramsar sites in India ru:Мансар (озеро)