THE WULAR LAKE

The Wular lake is the largest fresh water lake in India. It is about 13 miles long and 6 miles broad, covering an area of about 78.5 sq. miles. It is encircled by the high mountains on the north and north-east of the valley. The rivers Bohnar, Madamati and Erin from the mountain ranges and the Vetasta (Jhelum) and the Ningal from the south bring hundreds of tons of silt into the lake year after year.

The word Wular comes from a Sanskrit word 'Ullola' which means stormy, high rising waves. The origin may also be attributed to a Kashmiri word 'Wul' which means a gap or a fissure.

There are a number of traditions connected with the lake. About 26 centuries before the Christian Era, Raja Sandiman of Kashmir founded a city on both the sides of the Vetasta at the foot of the northern mountain ranges in Khoyi Hama. He built here spacious and grand buildings, tall and graceful temples furnished with golden and silver images. This city was called Sandimat Nagar. The same king built the temple at Shankarachar Hill.

About 544 years later in the reign of Sunder Sen, this place became a den of immorality. The people forgot God. Day and night they wallowed in wine and debauchery, worshipping mammon and woman. The king sided with profligate persons. When such conditions reached a climax, a potter of this city named Nand Gupth of low caste, a man whom the people hated because of his piety, was inspired and preached against the sinful ways of the people. They mocked and laughed at him. Where wealth accumulates, men decay. According to the local tradition, the potter was inspired in a dream that he should tell all the citizens to leave the town, and he with his family should climb the hill, but not look back till he reached the top. Next day he did this. With his potter's wheel on his back he climbed the hill. When he reached the middle of the way he cast a look at the city but found no change. When he reached the top, the earth shook, a fissure appeared in the earth, water gushed forth and swamped the whole city. Near Baramulla at Khadaniyar a part of the mountain tumbled down and blocked the flow of the river Jhelum. This caused a flood to deluge the valler. He found half of his potter's wheel turned into gold. The hillock, on the top of which is the shrine of Baba Shukur Din, is still called Krala Sangor (potter's hillock). It is said that the ruins of the ancient city are to be seen when the water is very low. This is not unlike the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

One of the ancient names of the lake was Maha Padma Saras. Maha Padma, a serpent-god, a satellite of Shiva is believed to be the patron saint of the lake. It is said that in the reign of Jayapid (753-784 A.D.) a Dravidian sorcerer intended to exorcise Maha Padma from here in order to water some arid region in the plains. Jayapid in a dream beheld an apparition of Maha Padma who besought him to save him from this sorcerer and promised to show him a mountain of raw gold. In the morning the king made enquiries and found out this sorcerer. 'How can you dry this lake which has an average depth of 15 feet', the king asked. 'Your Majesty, I shall show on the spot', said the sorcerer. They both went to the shore of the lake and the sorcerer, by darting arrows in different directions dried the lake. The king saw Maha Padma and his family in a form half human and half snake, struggling for life in the mire. The king ordered the sorcerer to fill the lake again and dissuaded him from taking away the serpent. The snake appeared again in a dream to the king and said 'Your Majesty has exposed my family; I shall not show you raw gold but a raw-copper mine from which can be made one million coins'. There is another version of the story. The sorcerer engaged a boat and told the boatman to take the boat near the spring. He kept a candle burning in the boat, on the burning of which his safety rested. The sorcerer dived into the lake and brought up the big snake Maha Padma, and drew a circle of lime round the spot where he placed the snake. He dived again in order to bring up his family. The snake in the boat entreated the boatman to extinguish the candle and rub out this circle of lime, and promised him gold in exchange for this good turn. The boatman was moved by this speech and did as requested. The serpent, being free, jumped into the lake and killed the sorcerer who was about to move his family. The boatman did not see any gold, but saw charcoal floating on water. He was disgusted, and collected some charcoal in his Kangri. Next day he saw all the charcoal turned into gold. He expressed sorrow, born of avarice for not collecting more.