Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary

About Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Location: It is located in the Udaipur district of Rajasthan surrounding Debar Lake (Jaisamand Lake).
• The forest of the Sanctuary used to be a Shikargah (Game Reserve) of the erstwhile Maharanas of Mewar.
• It was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in the year 1957.
• Vegetation:  Dry deciduous forests, and scrub forests.
• Flora: The flora of this Sanctuary comprises of thickly wooded forests of mainly Teak wood.
• Fauna:
  • It is habitat to a large variety of animals like Bears, Black Bucks, Blue Bulls, Chinkaras, Chittal or Spotted Deer, Civets, Common Langurs, Four-horned Antelope, Foxes etc.
  • It is also home to a huge variety of over 300 species of resident as well as migratory birds like Babblers, Buzzards, Curlews, Dalmatian Pelicans, Darters, Doves, Eagles, Egrets, Falcons, etc.

Key Facts about Debar Lake (Jaisamand Lake):

• It is renowned for being the second largest artificial lake in Asia.
• In 1685, Maharana Jai Singh built this lake while making a dam on the Gomti River.
• This lake covers an area of 36sq km, stretches to the length of 14 km and width of 9 km. The lake is deep to the maximum of 102 feet and has a circumference of 30 miles.
• The lake receives water from four main rivers, the Gomti, Jhamari, Rooparel and Bagaar.
• The massive dam was constructed on this lake also houses a centrally located Shiva temple.
• The northern end of the lake has a palace with a courtyard while its southern end has a pavilion of 12 pillars.
• Islands:
  • There are seven islands on the lake and the tribe of Bhil Minas inhabit these islands.
  • There are two main islands which are large in size. The biggest island is called Babaka Bhagra while the smallest is called "Piari".