History of Dal Lake
According to the history and the development credit of all the Mughal types of the garden goes to Emperor Jahangir, the old history of the garden can be outlined to the second century when it was constructed during the rule of Pravarsena II. Praversena II established the city of Srinagar and governed in Kashmir from 79 AD to 139 AD. He also built a bungalow for his stay at the northeastern corner of the Dal Lake and had named it Shalimar.
The word Shalimar in Sanskrit signifies ‘abode of love’. Throughout the long term, the bungalow fell into vestiges and later couldn’t be found. Be that as it may, the name of the place stayed as Shalimar.
Shalimar bagh was the dream project of the Emperor Jahangir constructed for his darling wife Nur Jahan. He extended the old garden area in 1619 into an imperial garden and called it ‘Farah Baksh’ (‘the magnificent’). In 1630, under Emperor Shah Jahan’s requests, Zafar Khan the legislative leader of Kashmir expanded it. He named it ‘Faiz Baksh’ (‘the plentiful’). It at that point turned into a peaceful spot for the Sikh legislative heads of the province.
During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the marble summerhouse was reserved for European guests. Then the premises of the garden was finished during Maharaja Hari Singh’s reign. Hence, throughout the years, the garden was expanded and improved by several rulers and called by various names, yet the most famous name ‘Shalimar Bagh’ remains the same till today.
During the Mughal time frame, specifically, Emperor Jahangir and his better half Nur Jahan were so fascinated of Kashmir that during summer they moved to Srinagar with their all their courtiers from Delhi, Shalimar Bagh was their magnificent summer home and the Royal Court. They crossed the exhausting cold passes of the Pir Panjal mountain range on elephants to arrive at Srinagar.
Dal Lake, Srinagar Overview
The Dal lake is an integral part of tourism and recreation in Kashmir and is named the “Jewel in the crown of Kashmir” or “Srinagar’s Jewel”. Dal Lake is equivalent to a visit to Srinagar and is right around a visual meaning of the town. The lake is also an important source for commercial operations in fishing and water plant harvesting. It spread in more than 15 km, it is the second-biggest lake in Jammu and Kashmir. The mirror-like Dal Lake shows the snow-tidied peaks of the Pir Panjal mountains while the vibrant and colourful shikaras (gondolas) swim around.
The houseboats and shikaras are the main attraction of Srinagar. The Dal Lake of Srinagar is also very famous for the floating market which is also called ‘Raad’ in there a local language where merchants have their own Shikaras and they attract customers by selling every attractive thing of Srinagar like there seasoned fruits vegetables appealing handicrafts, saffron, edibles and even ice creams etc.. Ice skating during winter on the iced Dal Lake is always in the bucket list if the travellers.