Shanti Sagara Lake is located in Channagiri Taluka of Davangere, Karnataka. Shanti Sagara Lake is the second largest lake in Asia. It is also named as Soolekere by the local people. Shanti Sagara was constructed in 1128 i.e. 11th or 12th century. It has a history of 800 years. It took 3 years to construct this tank which undoubtedly made it the largest manmade tank in India. Shanti Sagara has a water spread of around 2,651 hectares with the radius of 65 km. The total catchment area covered is 329.75 square kilometers. The main purpose of this lake is for irrigation. It irrigates around 1,900 hectares of land which has benefited 50 villages.

It has a unique embankment structure which lies between the two hills. The embankment has a normal length of about 950 ft. (290 m) but has a width of 120 ft. (37 m) which is not straight. The tank never runs short of water. If ever required water is less, then water is supplied from Bhadra dam.

History

It is said that the construction of Shanti Sagara tank was done in 11th or 12th century which belonged to the city of Svargavathi, the city which submerged because of the curse. The tank has a stone which is dated to shaka 1311. General Sir Richard Hieram Sankey who was a chief engineer of Mysore state said that it was not an easy task to build this tank as the natural conditions are not well suited for the construction. 

Location

Shanti Sagara Lake is located in Channagiri Taluka of Davangere in Karnataka, India.

Attractions

Shanti Sagara is considered to be one of the famous tourist attractions in Davangere district. Recently, a guest house has been constructed in this area for the tourist. Aqueduct and Siddheshwar temple are the major tourist attraction near Shanti Sagara Lake.

Siddheshwar Temple

It is located towards the north of Shanti Sagara Lake. The pillars and walls of the temple preserve the traditions of Hoysala Empire. It is said that this temple belongs to Vijayanagara Empire. Towards the south-west of the temple, there is a shrine of goddess Durga. The beauty of Siddheshwar temple reaches to the epitome during the time of Maha Shivaratri. Siddheshwar Rathothsava which is celebrated in the month of February attracts thousands of devotees. This festival is celebrated for 3 days.

Aqueduct

To the parallel of the embankment lies an aqueduct which grabs a lot of tourist attraction. Aqueduct was designed by Sir M. Vishweshwariah. It has a unique setup which has made this place tourist friendly. It is well known for its scenic beauty and this beauty is captured in one of the Kannada film.

Kudli

It’s around 40 km away from Shanti Sagara. It is well known for the remarkable sight where two rivers, Tunga and Bhadra meets which later forms a bigger river Tungabhadra.

Santhebennur

It is around 15 km from Shanti Sagara and is well known for a pond Pushkarani. It is well known for its architectural beauty.

How to Reach

One can reach Bangalore by selecting any mode of transport. Shanti Sagara is around 20 km from Channagiri and 40 km from Davangere. From Bangalore, one can take a cab or a taxi to reach.

Karnataka government has also started with bus service to reach Shanti Sagara Lake.

From Bangalore, it’s around 265 km and around 40 km from Davangere.