Dal Lake

Dal Lake is known for

Ancient Sanskrit texts refer to the lake as "Mahasarit," and it was historically associated with goddess worship at a site called Sureshwari on its banks. During the Mughal period, emperors developed the surrounding area as a summer retreat, building gardens and pavilions such as Shalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh; the region later passed through Afghan, Sikh, and Dogra rule before India's independence. Two theories explain the lake's formation: a remnant of a post-glacial lake, or a fluvial origin in old flood channels of the Jhelum River. The lake has shrunk from an original 22 square kilometres, the result of sediment deposition and urban development. The Government of India has invested roughly $275 million in restoration, including building siltation tanks and mechanical weeding. [Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal_Lake]

Dal Lake is the most visited site in Srinagar and one of the defining images of the Kashmir Valley, ringed by Mughal-era gardens and a working houseboat and shikara economy that supports much of the local fishing and tourism industry.

Summer months (April to October) for boating and lotus blooms in July-August; winter for a frozen landscape