Mansar Lake is a lake located from the city of

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

in Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is fringed by forest-covered hills, and is over a mile () in length and half-a-mile () in width. Surinsar-Mansar Lakes are 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 W ...

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 name 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 interna ...

and IUCN redlisted ''Lissemys punctuata'', ''Aspideretes gangeticus'' and ''Mansariella lacustris''. The composite lake is high in micro nutrients for which it is an attractive habitat, breeding and nursery ground for migratory waterfolks 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 (Sanskrit: मानसरोवर), also called Mapam Yutso (;) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake fed by the Kailash Glaciers near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The ...

. On the Eastern Bank of the Lake there is a shrine to Sheshnag (a snake with six heads). The shrine comprises a big boulder on which are placed a number of iron chains perhaps representing the small serpents waiting on the tutelary deity of the Sheshnag. Two ancient temples of Umapati Mahadev & Narsimha as also a temple of

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) 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 c ...

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 circum-ambulations (''Parikarma'') around the lake to seek the blessings of Sheshnag, the lord of serpents, whose shrine is located on its eastern bank. Certain communities of

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

perform the ''

Mundan The Chudakarana ( sa, चूडाकरण, ) or the Mundana ( sa, मुण्डन, ), is the eighth of the sixteen Hindu saṃskāras (sacraments), in which a child receives their first haircut. No reference is provided in any Grhya Sutras ...

'' ceremony (First hair cut) 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 to 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 6th most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal co ...

(Punjab) to

Udhampur Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capital ...

(Jammu & Kashmir, Jammu Province.

is a Town of strategic importance, again on National Highway No. 1A. The shortcut 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

Areas around Mansar lake are rich in forests. Many types of trees such as Scrub,

Peepal ''Ficus religiosa'' or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipal tree, ...

and Acacia are found here. The lake is bordered with

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. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

trees and provides shelter to a number of Birds and

Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

. There is also a wildlife sentury near the lake which provides home to a number of Birds and Animals such as

Spotted Deer The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described and given a binomial name by German naturalist Johann Christian Po ...

Nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter S ...

, Cranes and Ducks. Many types of

Fishes Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

and

Tortoises Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''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 an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

. Some types of Snakes are also found in the lake.

History

History of Mansar is of the time of

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

. Babar Vahan (son of Arjuna and Ulpi) was the ruler of this area during that time. After the war, Arjuna performed a ritual called "Ashwamegh Yagya" to prove his mettle and vantage over the land. Babar Vahan captured the horse which was the power symbol of the yagya at Khoon village near Dhar Udhampur

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

where later on Babar Vahan killed arjuna. After the victory, Babar Vahan shared his success with his mother by presenting the head of Arjuna to her. After knowing that Arjuna was the father of Babar, he wanted to get Arjuna back. Therefore, he had to procure Mani from sheshnag. For that, Babar Vahan made a tunnel with his arrow which was known as Surangsar. After defecting sheshnag and capturing the mani, he came out of Manisar(Mansar), that was the other end of the

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

.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 mansar lake

References

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