Lake Pichola

Lake Pichola is one of the oldest and largest lakes in Udaipur, ringed by hills, palaces and forts. Tradition credits a Banjara named Pichhu with building it in 1362 AD by damming the Ayad River, to give the area drinking water and irrigation. The lake later drowned the village of Picholi, which gave it its name.

Maharana Udai Singh II was so taken with the lake and its green setting that he founded Udaipur on its shore. He then enlarged it with a stone masonry dam about 15.24 m high in the Badipol area, securing water for the city and its farms. Boat rides are the usual way to see it today. Rudyard Kipling wrote that a Venetian who owned Pichola could fairly tell visitors to see it and then die.