Hamerpal Lake - A place which needs serious reconsideration by everyone visiting Kumbalgarh & Rajasthan Tourism for conservation of it's great natural ecosystem
In the past, we have written blogs about places to skip at various popular destination from Indian tourism map, but this time we thought of sharing this differently. Everything shared in this blogpost is an attempt to help you have good experience while in Kumbalgarh & some other aspects which all of us need to respect when we travel. More importantly, we will share about Hameripal lake and why it's considered so special around Kumbalgarh of Rajasthan.
Let's first know about what is Hameripal Lake, where it's located and why it's one of the popular tourist spot around Kumbalgarh.
This lake was built by Rana Hammir Pal and hence the lake is known as Hammeripal lake in Kumbalgarh region of Rajasthan. Above photograph shows the lake, it's ghats and a temple on other edge. There are few houses close to the lake and there is also a temple no other side of the lake.
Are you wondering why Hammeripal lake is so popular, then answer is that the lake has lot of African Catfish. Supposedly, someone started fish farming in the lake and brought African catfish for the same purpose. And it seems villagers were not happy about the approach and they stopped the initiative ensure lake ecosystem is maintained well. Beyond that time, these catfish kept on increasing and even today, no one is allowed to do fishing around Hammeripal lake in Rajasthan.
Now tourists visit the lake and are allowed to feed these fish. Now this is very exciting for kids, while didn't came across as a sustainable practice but I can be completely wrong. Above photograph shows one of the many kiosks around the lake selling material to feed these catfish. Tourists can buy from these kiosks and can feed these fish. By looking at the scenario around the lake, it felt like these fish are overfed. Many times, they may not care about the stuff you are feeding. They are also choosy and may skip some of the stuff, while prefer other kind of feed.
I walked a bit around the Hamerpal Lake and saw this corner which is filled with all kinds of plastic wrappers and bottles. These some of the most heartbreaking sights at different tourist places. Not trying to say that only tourists create this kind of crap and locals also contribute to such trash. But broader point is that tourists, locals as well as tourism authorities need to ensure such natural habitats remain clean. At least dustbins could be installed around the ghats & other commonly used sides of Hammerpal lake.
While walking around the Hammerpal lake, we noticed lot of birds and it seems the wetland also sees some migratory birds in winters. We noticed Mallards, Cormorants, Painted strokes, Brown bshchat, Indian magpie robin, bulbuls, tailorbirds, green beeeater, Indian pond herron, stilts, Roofous Treepie, Lapwings, Darter birds, Babblers etc. I was not carrying appropriate lenses so couldn't click bird photographs around Hammerpal Lake around Kumbalgarh.
Above photograph is clicked from last ghat around Hammerpal Lake and at a distance you can see some cars parked. There is space for parking 6-7 cars and few tea/maggi vendors in same area. Fish can be seen from all ghats of the lake on this side. I can't comment about other side of the lake, as we didn't go there and apart from this part, other sides of the lake doesn't have well paved paths.
Hammerpal lake certainly needs better cleaning and maintenance. If things keep going the same way without attention on cleanness, we may see this place go out of it's current popularity. It will not take lot of time, when lake may start stinking. After seeing thousands of african catfish at Hammerpal, I recalled my memories from Rewalsar. During my various visit to rewalsar lake, I have seen quality of water degrading over the years and now I don't feel like going to Rewalsar. And even if I land in Rewalsar area, lake is the last place I would like to visit.
Above is a photograph of ghat close of the temple around Hammerpal lake in Rajasthan. Seems like cloths are also washed around these ghats of Hammerpal lake. I just clicked the photograph as sunset hues were creating nice contrast between the ghat and water part of the Hammerpal lake.
Sunset can be a good time to be around the Hammerpal lake.
While walking around the Hammerpal lake in Kumbalgarh, we also noticed an old Pertian Wheel around one of the sides of the lake. Hammerpal lake is pretty big. The Persian wheel is a mechanical water lifting system operated usually by animals like bullocks, buffaloes or camels. Pertian wheel used to lift water from water sources typically open wells, water ponds or artificial lakes. In Sanskrit, the word Araghatta has been used in the ancient texts to describe the Persian Wheel.
Above photograph shows Hammerpal lake on left and road heading towards Kumbalgarh Fort on the right on this photograph. Road condition on this stretch is good when we visited. Usually roads of Rajasthan are well maintained, with an exception of road connecting Kumbalgarh with Ranakpur.
Some suggestions if you plan to Hammerpal Lake :
1. Make a conscious call if these fish need any feed at the time you are there. How to figure that out? If there is good inflow of tourists, there is very high probability that fish are being fed well. So be comfortable with the idea of not buying the feed.
2. If you are not feeding the fish at Hammerpal Lake, even then you can sit around the lake and enjoy it's natural beauty. Walk around the lake.
3. If you are concerned that you are not giving business to vendors around the lake, have some tea with some snacks. When done, make sure all the waste goes into the dustbin installed by the vendor.
4. If fish feeding is only reason for you to visit Hammerpal lake, it's ok to skip as I am sure there are lot of folks who are feeding them well.
If you have visited Hammerpal lake and want to add anything in above list, please do use comment section which is available at the bottom of this blogpost.
Above photograph shows temple around Hammerpal Lake. Somehow I didn't feel good after visit to Hammerpal as it was painful to see lot of waste going inside the lake and those plastic packets/bottles floating around one of the sides of the lake.
If you are looking for a recommendation in single line, I would say you can skip Hammerpal Lake visit.
If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter Use dustbins.
2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite.
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