Cartoon - Kashmiri man rowing a shikara in the waters of the Dal Lake in Srinagar

The Dal Lake is an eco-system of its own. With the large number of houseboats here and the tourists they attract, there are a large number of people... more

by Ashish Agarwal

Title

Cartoon - Kashmiri man rowing a shikara in the waters of the Dal Lake in Srinagar

Artist

Ashish Agarwal

Medium

Digital Art - Digital Oil Painting

Description

The Dal Lake is an eco-system of its own. With the large number of houseboats here and the tourists they attract, there are a large number of people here to cater to their needs. The local people also live here, move in the lake on smaller boats, setup local floating markets in the lake and use it as a transportation system. In this photo, you can see a Kashmiri man plying a shikara, with some metal trunks kept in front of him, and with this being the more empty section of the lake. In front of the man is a hookah, and in the backdrop are houses and other buildings on the shore of the lake. The Dal Lake is one of the crowing glories of Srinagar, driving most tourists to the region. The lake is contained within the city of Srinagar and is not very large (you can drive around the outer edge of the lake within a matter of hours), with the outer permiter being around 16 kilometers. The lake forms an intergal part of the economy of the city, with tourism centered around the lake, and with fishing and water plant harvesting also happening on the lake. A large number of tourists live on the lake, in the large and beautiful house boats that are positioned in the lake (and in fixed positions, with all facilities available on the houseboats). In addition, the iconic site of tourists in the shikaras on the lake is a familiar sight, and every tourist does enjoy such a ride.
The gardens near the shore of the Lake (Shalimar, Nishaant, Chasme-Shahi) were developed by the great Mughal rulers who loved the climate of Kashmir and are incredibly beautiful. The lake is not very deep, with the deepest part of the lake being 6 meters. The unfortunate part is that for the past several decades, the lake has been seeing a reduction in the area covered by the lake, although in the past several years, there has been an effort to reduce the reasons for the reduction in the area covered by the lake. The lake is fed by some perennial streams and by spring sources.

Uploaded

May 2nd, 2013