Fateh Sagar Lake

The manmade lake Fateh Sagar is situated in Udaipur city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Located towards the north of Lake Pichola alongside the entrance to Moti Magri Hill, Fateh Sagar is said to be the pride of the City of Lakes of Udaipur. It is surrounded by a number of hills on the three sides and Pratap Memorial on the north. Their reflection in the placid waters make a wonderful sight for tourists. The beauty of water and greenery has made it to consider as ‘second Kashmir’.

It is the second largest artificial Lake in the Udaipur city. This pear shaped Lake was excavated in 1678 when Maharana Jai Singh was in power. He also constructed the famous Jaisamand Lake, southeast of the city of Udaipur. The lake has been used as a water reservoir and Maharaja Fateh Singh renovated it in 1888 AD at a cost of 6 lakh rupees after the violent storm and heavy rain demolished the dam and, in the same year, the Lake was named as Fateh Sagar Lake. 

The Lake is surrounded by the Aravalli hills on the three sides and is approachable by a motorable road, Moti Magri which provides a beautiful and enchanting view of the lake. A stone dam of 800 m length is situated on the eastern side of the lake. Monsoon is the main water source of this lake and three channels, one from Pichola Lake, second from the Madar Lake, and the last one from Badi Lake leads water to the Fateh Sagar Lake. Its 2800 feet long northeastern embankment has three names, The Pal, the Drive and the Connaught Bund. The foundation stone of the embankment was laid by the Duke of Connaught (son of Her Majesty Queen Victoria). Hence the name as Connaught Bund.

A well planned lake, Fateh Sagar is the second drinking water source for the citizen of Udaipur. Fatehsagar is 2.4 km length, 1.6 km width and 11.5 meter in depth. Its overflow during rainy season (September) is a scenic sight. The lake is rich with flora like floating macrophytes, the submerged macrophytes and the Phytoplanktons and fauna such as Zooplankton, Benthos and Fish. The economically worth fishes such as C. punctatus, C. reba, Catla catla, L. calbasu, Channa marulius, Cirrhina mrigala, L. gonius, Labeo rohita, Tor khudree, and Wallago attu are reported to be find here. 

The lake consists of three small islands. The largest of these islands is renovated into a park named as Nehru Park that spreads over an area of 4 sq.km. A perfect place for picnics, it contains a small zoo especially designed for kids, a beautiful garden and a few small restaurant. One could enjoy tasty food in a boat shaped restaurant located in this park. The second island with an area of 0.06 sq. km has also developed by the government of Rajasthan as a public park with dazzling water-jet fountains and gardens. The third island with an area of 1.2 sq.km has the best solar observing site in Asia, the Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO).

Hariyali Amavasya Mela (Green New Moon Fair) is celebrated in the month of Shravan (August/September) annually at the Lake ground. 

The boat ride in the Lake is a major attraction of this tourist spot as the tourist can enjoy the beauty of greenery and the view of the city. Pedal boats and mtor boats can be hired from the bottom of Moti Magri. Fees : Rs.50 per person to visit the park and minimum 6 persons are allowed to book a full boat. One could enjoy the beauty of this lake while taking a road ride through Moti Magri Road, Fateh Sagar Drive and Rani Road. This winding road will give the astonishing view of Aravalli hills. On the way to the center of the Lake the boat will take a turn around the other side of the Lake before reaching the park.