"Stay close to the serenity of a lake to meet your own peace of mind".
We are here to plan your next trip to India's largest inland salt lake, Sambhar Lake. It is a zone where water and sky merge in the midst of the desert land of the country. This saline lake is not only beautiful to watch but gives a different experience in your travel venture.
This will be a half-day trip for those staying near Jaipur, Ajmer, or Delhi. For the people traveling from further places, I would suggest including this trip along with the Pushkar- A Detailed Travel Guide. You can visit Sambhar Lake on the way before reaching or while returning from the Pushkar. Or you can cover Sambhar Lake while your Trip to Jaipur - A Complete 2 Day Tour Guide.
About Sambhar Lake
Sambhar Lake is located in the Sambhar district of Rajasthan. It is situated at a distance of around 80 kilometers from Jaipur and 65 kilometers from Ajmer. This is the largest saline lake in India and is widespread over 5700 meters square with its salty water and marshland. The word Sambhar itself means salt.
This extremely vast lake is divided by a 5-kilometer-long dam, made of sandstone, which is beneficial in the salt-making process. Sambhar lake is elliptical in shape and comprises five rivers - Samaod, Mantha, Rupangarh, Khandela, and Khari. You can easily spot the beautiful Aravalli mountain hill in far forming an outstanding scenic beauty.
Other than salt making, migrating birds are quite famous here, making it one of the famous tourist spots for nature lovers and bird watchers. Besides, there are salt factories, salt museums, and salt Laboratories to visit in the town of Sambhar.
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| Beautiful Sambhar Lake |
History of Sambhar Lake
The history of Sambhar Lake is quite interesting and antique, which includes Hindu mythology stories from the epic Mahabharat.
According to history, there was a demon king "Brishparva" and the lake was part of his kingdom.
It is believed by the locals that the Goddess Maa Shakambari Devi, the protector goddess created this lake for humanity as a treasure and blessing. There is a temple near Sambhar Lake dedicated to Maa Shakambari Devi on a rock outcrop near the lake. From a height, it appears as if the goddess is protecting and guarding the lake.
In Indian history, this lake seems to have been an important place, especially during the Mughals Empire. It is believed that the wedding ceremony of Emperor Akbar and Jodha Bai abode at Sambhar Lake.
Over a period of time, the lake was under the control of the Mughals, Marathas, and Rajputs. Later, when the Britishers came, it was captured by them. And later, was taken back by the Indian government after the Independence.
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| Saline water is stored in water beds to extract salt |
When is the Best Time to Visit Sambhar Lake?
The best time to visit Sambhar Lake is the Winter season, from October to March like any other place in Rajasthan. The temperature is moderately chill during the day and very low during the night.
The Summer season is not a good idea to visit Sambhar Lake, in fact, any place in Rajasthan. The temperature goes as high as 45 degrees.
The rainy season is also not a good idea as you won't be able to see the salt production in the lake.
How to Reach Sambhar Lake?
If you are traveling from far, Airway is one option that you can opt to reach Jaipur. Jaipur is the nearest Airport to Sambhar, which is around 120 kilometers. You can directly find the option of a cab or taxi in the Jaipur airport to reach Sambhar.
The railway is another way to reach here. Sambhar Lake station is the nearest railway station with frequent trains from Jaipur and other major cities like Agra, Delhi, Jodhpur, Ahmedabad, and Udaipur. You can easily reach the till station and take a taxi from there.
Another way to reach here is by Roadway. Jaipur city is just 80 kilometers from here. You can easily reach Jaipur and book a cab to Sambhar Lake.
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| On the way to Sambhar Lake via Road |
Experience in Sambhar Lake
Visiting this beautiful saline lake was a great experience. The lake is stretched at around 22 kilometers, divided by the stone dam into two sections. One section is used to extract the salt from the water which is pumped to this part from the other section when it's ready to extract enough salt. You could see the glittery first of salt while the extraction.
You can witness the process of producing salt from the saline water by using the evaporation process in the natural summer, where you can see the pile of salt left behind while the water evaporates.
There is a railway line designed with a trolly system to carry salt across the dam to the various salt factories. You can have a glimpse of the railway track, after reaching there. This railway system was designed initially by the Britishers for the same purpose. This is the only train in India that is run by petrol engines with wooden apartments and is the only train that runs over a lake.
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| Train carrying salt to factories within Sambhar Lake |
Bird Watching in Sambhar
You will be amazed to know that the beautiful Sambhar lures thousands of flamingos, making Sambhar one of the most significant habitats for Flamingos in the entire country. You can witness varieties of rare species of birds here.
You can easily spot flamingos around the lakeside during dawn and sundown time. Photographers would definitely love to capture this stunning and remarkable scenery.
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| Some Bird Photography in Sambhar Lake |
Our overall experience in Sambhar lake was outstanding and worth going. We really enjoyed this short trip. We left in the morning from Jaipur, reached in 2 hours, and explored the lake. We came back by the evening after spotting a few flamingos along the lakeside.
Rating: The rating from us is 8 out of 10.
Hope you like reading this post. Do share your experiences in the comment section.
Keep Traveling!
Thanks for Reading.
