Manasbal lake
Manasbal Lake (جهيل مانسبل) is located in Bandipora District in the State of Jammu and Kashmir in India. The name Manasbal is said to be a derivative of the Lake Manasarovar. Lake is encircled by three villages viz., Jarokbal, Kondabal (also called Kiln place, is situated on the north-eastern side of the lake) and Ganderbal and is stated to be the deepest lake (at 13 m or 43 ft depth) in India.[citation needed] The large growth of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) at the periphery of the lake (blooms during July and August) adds to the beauty of the clear waters of the lake. The Mughal garden, called the Jaroka, (meaning bay window) built by Nur Jahan overlooks the lake.
A lake is a good place for birdwatching as it is one of the largest natural stamping grounds of Aquatic birds in Kashmir and has the sobriquet of "supreme gem of all Kashmir
Lakes".The rootstocks of lotus plant which grows extensively in the lake are harvested and marketed and also eaten by the local people.
Crucial vegetation in the catchment of the lake incorporates Orchards (apple, mulberry), some Platanus (Chinar trees) and Salix trees. Safar, a contiguous town of Safapur which has a woods of Chinar trees, is known as Badshah Boni, supreme Chinar, and was planted in a mimic of the Nasim Bagh in Srinagar. Maize, mustard and wheat are all things considered the essential yields created in the agricultural landscapes of the catchment. Starting late, land use case has changed with more land used for agribusiness besides redirection of a territory for improvement purposes.
Wullar-Manasbal Development Authority has reported uncovering of an old Hindu sanctuary, on the eastern shore of the Manasbal Lake, constructed in the conventional structural style of old Kashmir. The lower portion of the sanctuary, which was covered in the earth, was found amid the reclamation works attempted for the lake. Dated to 800-900 AD, amid Avantivarman or Sankaravarman principle, taking into account epigraphic works, the sanctuary, developed in nearby dim stone, has an one of a kind pyramid-formed rooftop top with Corinthian or botanical themes. It is expressed to be another journey fascination for explorers who visit the hollow hallowed place at Amarnath and the Kheer Bhawani sanctuary at Tulmulla in Ganderbal area. Other vacation spots in the lake zone are the Manasbal Temple, the vestiges of a terraced Mughal garden and designed stones of some Buddhist sanctuaries on the banks of the lake.
