The pride of the City of Lakes, this lake was constructed towards the north of Lake Pichola. Lake and was built by Maharana Jai Singh but it got the name of Fateh Singh who rebuilt its dam. Fateh Sagar the second of Udaipur's four man-made lakes.
In 1678, Maharana JAI SINGH (1680-1698), who had already constructed the famous JAISAMAND LAKE southeast of Udaipur, excavated this new but small lake. It lies immediately to the north of, and connected by a canal to PICHOLA LAKE, which had been established by Maharana UDAI SINGH II a century earlier. After asking a couple of people the ubloggers found that this lake is the favourite spot of the common multitude for get together.
Fateh Sagar is 2.4 km. long, 1.6 km. wide and 11.5 m. at its deepest point; when full, it covers an area of about 1 sq. km., being fed by the Ahar (Berach) river. It is possible to drive around the complete circumference of the lake via Moti Magri Road, Fateh Sagar Drive, and Rani Road, a serpentine route that provides beautiful views of the lake as well as the encircling Aravalli Hills. The main causeways to the lake are from Pichola Lake, Madar Lake, and Badi Lake. It has three intake channels and an overflow channel for the rainy season.
Two centuries after its construction, a severe storm and heavy rainfall collapsed the old eastern embankment causing loss of life and considerable damage, especially to the nearby, lower-level SAHELION-KI-BARI gardens. In 1889, to prevent further such flooding, Maharana FATEH SINGH reconstructed the embankment at a cost of Rs. 6 lakhs (600,000 rupees). Later that same year, the Duke of Connaught, third son of Queen Victoria laid the new embankment's foundation stone, and the lake was renamed Fateh Sagar. This reconstructed northeastern embankment has three names, the Pal, the Drive, or Connaught Bund (embankment or breakwater). Along it is the entrance to MOTI MAGRI hill, on the summit of which is a landscaped park with the Maharana PRATAP MEMORIAL.
Three small islands grace Fateh Sagar, the largest being NEHRU PARK, a popular garden island with a restaurant and zoo, which is reached by inboard motor boats from the bottom of Moti Magri Hill. The Government of Rajasthan made the second island into a public park with a spectacular water-jet fountain, and the third houses the UDAIPUR SOLAR OBSERVATORY, the largest in Asia. A peaceful spot not far from the city centre, the lake is a popular leisure area for picnics and water recreation in hired pedal boats. Because of Fateh Sagar's blue waters and its backdrop of green hills, it is often referred to as the second Kashmir, an epithet often given to all of Udaipur.
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