Sambhar Lake

Sambhar Lake lies southwest of Jaipur and is the largest inland salt lake in India. It stretches about 35.5 km from end to end, and its width varies between roughly 3 and 11 km. Much of its surface is a broad white crust of salt, and the lake has long been of economic value.

The lake is wrapped in legend. The Mahabharata places it in the realm of the demon king Vrishparva, and its name comes from Shakambhari Devi, a form of Durga and the patron goddess of the Chauhan Rajputs. A local story says that around the sixth century the area was thick forest, which the goddess turned into a plain strewn with jewels; when people feared the greed and conflict such riches would bring, she changed it into a lake.