Mansar Lake, Jammu & Kashmir

How to reach: 

By Air: Nearest airport is Jammu. 

By Train: Manwal is the nearest railway station to Mansar  Lake. However, most of the tourists prefer Jammu railway station. You can board train for Jammu from all the four metropolitan cities and other important cities. 

By Road: Various state road transport services including JKSRTC, private roadways and taxi services provide best road connection to Jammu city. 

After reaching Jammu which is the closest airport, Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) and most preferred railway station for Mansar Lake, you have to take either of the two routes to reach Mansar:

1) ISBT Jammu - Samba- Mansar Lake  (Distance: 54 Km)

2) ISBT Jammu - Panjtirthi- Bajalta- Surinsar Lake - Mansar Lake (Distance:  50 Km)

Best place to visit: Open to tourists throughout the year but considering tourists' plans to visit multiple tourist spots in Jammu Kashmir together, it can be said that April to October is the acme of tourists footfall.  

History of Mansar Lake

The history of Mansar dates back to the time of Mahabhartata. Arjuna is one of the heros of the massive Indian epic named,  "The Mahabharata". the longest Indian epic. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers. 

The son of Arjun and Ulpi (who was the daughter of King Nag), named Babar Vahan, was the ruler of this region during the ancient times of Mahabhartata. After the war, that Arjun who proved his mettle and superiority over this land by performing the Yagya named "Ashwamegh Yagya. The power symbol of Ashwamegh Yagya was a horse and it was captured by Babar Vahan at village 'khoon' nearby village Ramkot on Dhar Udhampur road where later Arjun was murdered by Babar Vahan. Being victorious, Babar Vahan wanted to share his success with his mother and presented the head of Arjun to her. 

However,  her mother revealed that he had killed his father. After knowing the fact that Arjun was Babar’s father, he wanted to bring Arjun back to life for which he had to procure the Mani from Sheshnag. It was then that Babar Vahan made a tunnel with his arrow, which was called the “Surangsar”. This is now named as Surinsar. After defeating Sheshnag and capturing the Mani, he came out at Manisar which is known as Mansar now, which was the other end of the tunnel.  

Religious Importance

There are many ancient temples on the bank of the lake.  Some Hindus from this region perform Mundan (first hair cut)  ceremony of the male babies here.