Sambhar (officially known as Sambhar Lake Town) is a town and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Jaipur district Jaipur District is a district in the state of Rajasthan in Northern India.the city of Jaipur, which is Rajasthan's capital and the largest city, is the district headquarters. It is the tenth most populous district in India (out of 640). Etymo ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. It is surrounded by the

Sambhar Salt Lake The Sambhar Salt Lake, India's largest inland salt lake, is located in Sambhar Lake Town, Jaipur district of Rajasthan, India, southwest of the city of Jaipur and northeast of Ajmer, Rajasthan. It surrounds the historical Sambhar Lake Town. ...

. Sambhar is approximately 70 km from

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

( NH-8, RJ SH 57) and 99 km from

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

Description

Sambhar is known for the

, which is the largest inland salt lake in India. It derives its name from

Shakambhari Shakambhari (Sanskrit: शाकम्भरी, IAST: Śākambharī), also referred to as Shatakshi, is a goddess of nourishment. She is regarded to be an incarnation of Mahadevi, and identified with Durga in Hinduism. After the malevolent a ...

Devi, Goddess of the Chauhan clan, whose 2500-year-old temple is located 28 km from the town. The Indian epic

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 ...

and

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

mentions Sambhar Lake as a part of the kingdom of the demon king

Vrishparva The ''Mahabharata'' is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India composed by Veda Vyasa. At its heart lies the epic struggle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The central characters include the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthir ...

, as the place where his priest

Shukra Shukra (, ) is a Sanskrit word that means "clear" or "bright". It also has other meanings, such as the name of a sage who was the preceptor of the asuras and taught them the Vedas. In medieval mythology and Hindu astrology, the word refers to ...

Charya lived, and as the place where the wedding between his daughter,

Devayani Devayani () is a character in Hindu literature. She is described to be the daughter of Shukra, the acharya (preceptor) of the asuras, and his wife Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. She marries King Yayati, and gives birth to two sons — Ya ...

, and King

Yayati Yayati () is an emperor in Hindu tradition. He is described to be a Chandravamsha king. He is regarded to be the progenitor of the races of the Yadavas and the Pandavas. According to the Harivamsa, Yayati is the son of King Nahusha, and ...

took place. A temple near the lake is dedicated to

with a pond in it.

Mariam-uz-Zamani Mariam-uz-Zamani (; – 19 May 1623), commonly known by the misnomer Jodha Bai, was the Empress consort, chief consort, principal Hinduism, Hindu wife and the favourite wife of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. She was also the longest-servi ...

, daughter of Raja Bharmal of

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

, was married to

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

on February 6, 1562, at Sambhar. Sambhar Lake has an archeological site at Naliasar lake dating 2000 BC. A small hamlet has been found while the excavation of the site, which gives an insight into the construction of homes, water well and food grain storage, various coins of different dynasties. A lot is still buried below the sand dunes. Devyani Sarovar and surrounding temples are other places adjoining Sambhar Lake of Indian mythological connection. Sambhar was the capital of the

Chahamanas of Shakambhari The Chahamanas of Shakambhari (IAST: Cāhamāna), colloquially known as the Chauhans of Sambhar or Chauhans of Ajmer, were an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Rajasthan and neighbouring areas between the sixth and twelfth centuri ...

before the 12th century. In 2014, six PSUs including Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd had planned to set up World’s largest 4,000 MW Ultra-mega Solar power project in the land under the company

But after the BJP government came to power in the state, the project was scrapped citing environmental issues and shifted to Gujarat

Sambhar hosts a variety of avian species. Popular species of birds sighted here are coots, black-winged stilts and redshanks. During the monsoon season, a huge number of Siberian pink flamingos carpet the Sambhar Salt Lake making it wonderfully pinkish.

Demographics

As of 2011 Census, Sambhar had a population of 22,327 of which 52% are males and 48% are females . Sambhar has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the state average of 66%.

In popular culture

* For the film ''

Delhi-6 ''Delhi-6'' is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan as an NRI who arrives in India with his ailing grandmother (played by Waheeda Rehman) and begins discovering his roots ...

'' directed by

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (born 7 July 1963) is an Indian film director, occasional actor and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the drama '' Rang De Basanti'' (2006) and the biographical sports film '' Bhaag Milkha Bhaag'' ...

, production designer

Samir Chanda Samir Chanda (1957 – 18 August 2011) was an Indian art director and production designer across Indian cinema, including Hindi cinema, Hindi, Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, Malayalam Cinema, Malayalam and Tamil cinema, Tamil, most known for hi ...

, recreated inner lanes of

Old Delhi Shahjahanabad colloquially known as Old Delhi( Hindustani: ''Purāni Dillī'') is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city and officially named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan decided to shi ...

at Sambhar . Later for certain scenes, historic

Jama Masjid A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.See: * * * * ...

was digitally added to the frame as a backdrop. Various scenes of many other popular films have been shot in lake and main Sambhar town such as: *

Bard of Blood ''Bard of Blood'' is a 2019 Indian spy thriller television series based on the 2015 The Bard of Blood, espionage novel of the same name by Bilal Siddiqi. Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, the series stars Emr ...

br>
*

PK (film) ''PK'' (translation: ''Drunk'') is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language science fiction comedy-drama film edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani and written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi and jointly produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the p ...

br>
*

Highway (2014 Hindi film) ''Highway'' is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language Road movie, road drama film written and directed by Imtiaz Ali (director), Imtiaz Ali and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. The film stars Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda. Screened in the Panorama section of ...

* Super 30 (film)br>
*

Jodhaa Akbar ''Jodhaa Akbar'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language historical drama film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. It stars Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the titular roles. Set in the 16th century, the film shows the fictional life and lo ...

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela ''Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela'' (), also simply known as ''Ram-Leela'', is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language romantic tragedy film written and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who also composed its original soundtrack. The film was jointly pr ...

Drona (2008 film) ''Drona'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language superhero film directed by Goldie Behl, starring Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Kay Kay Menon and Jaya Bachchan. ''Drona''s special effects shots were worked on by EyeQube, headed by Charles Darby ...

br>
*

Zila Ghaziabad ''Zila Ghaziabad'' () is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language political action thriller film directed by Anand Kumar. It was produced by Vinod Bachan, and presented by Mohammed Fasih and Bharat Shah. The film features Sanjay Dutt, Vivek Oberoi, Arshad W ...

br>
*

Gulaal (film) ''Gulaal'' (gulal, Crimson) is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language political drama film directed by Anurag Kashyap, starring Raj Singh Chaudhary, Kay Kay Menon, Abhimanyu Singh, Deepak Dobriyal, Ayesha Mohan, Jesse Randhawa, Piyush Mishra and Aditya ...

br>
*

Veer (2010 film) ''Veer'' () is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language epic action film directed by Anil Sharma and produced by Vijay Gulan. It stars Salman Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Jackie Shroff, Zareen Khan, and Sohail Khan. ''Veer'' was released on 22 January 2010, ...

Tevar ''Tevar'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by debutante Amit Sharma and produced by Boney Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Sunil Lulla, Naresh Agarwal and Sunil Manchanda, based on a script by Sharma and Shantanu Shrivastav. An o ...

br>

References

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Jaipur district Archaeological sites in Rajasthan

Description

Demographics

In popular culture

See also

References