Dal Lake

Few cities have a lake woven so tightly into their daily life as Srinagar has Dal. The water spreads along the city's eastern and northern edge at roughly 1,580 metres, with mountains closing in on three sides, and what looks like one lake is really a chain of basins separated by causeways: Gagribal, Lokut Dal, Bod Dal and Nigeen. The open water covers about 18 square kilometres, but counting the floating gardens the wetland is larger, and a road follows almost the whole 15.5-kilometre shore. Old Sanskrit texts knew it as Mahasarit, the "great lake".

The shoreline owes much of its character to the Mughals, who chose Kashmir as their summer refuge from the heat of the plains. On the slopes of the Zabarwan range they laid out terraced gardens that step down towards the water, fed by channels and fountains and shaded by chinar trees: Shalimar Bagh, created under Emperor Jahangir, the neighbouring Nishat Bagh built by Asif Khan, brother of Empress Nur Jahan, and the smaller spring garden of Chashme Shahi. Two small islands, Rupa Lank and Sona Lank, sit in the middle basins; the first is known as Char Chinari for the four great plane trees that stand at its corners. On the north-western shore the white marble Hazratbal shrine, Kashmir's most revered Muslim sanctuary, keeps a relic venerated as a hair of the Prophet Muhammad.

The lake is also a place where people live and work on the water. During Dogra rule outsiders could not buy land in the valley, so British residents had houseboats built instead, and the long cedar-wood "floating palaces" moored along the western side became the lake's signature. Between them glide shikaras, slender canopied boats that serve as water taxis and as floating shops selling flowers, fruit and vegetables. Further out, local families tend raad, floating garden beds of matted reeds and earth that are anchored in place and planted with tomatoes, cucumbers and melons. In July and August whole stretches of the water disappear under pink lotus, and in the hardest winters the surface can freeze over.

Srinagar itself, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, straddles the Jhelum River in the heart of the Kashmir Valley and has long been the valley's main market town, known for its wooden mosques, old bridges and craft traditions.

Getting there

The lake lies within Srinagar: its southern basin, around Dal Gate and the lakeside boulevard, is a short ride from the city centre, and the Badamibagh cantonment is about 5 km away. Srinagar International Airport (SXR) is about 17 km away. Srinagar railway station, on the line that crosses the Pir Panjal range into the valley, is roughly 14 km from the lake and has direct trains from Katra on the main Indian network.