Chilka Lake (Odisha) is the largest lake in India.

Lakes are enclosed water bodies. Based on origin, lakes can be divided into natural lakes and artificial lakes. A different classification divides lakes into three different types – freshwater lakes, salty lakes and brackish lakes. Freshwater lakes are generally fed by rivers, salty lakes are generally saline whereas brackish lakes are partially saline.

Spread over the Puri, Ganjam and Khurda districts of Odisha, Chilka Lake is a brackish water lagoon. It is the largest lake of India measuring approximately 1165 sq. kilometres. Chilka Lake is thus the largest saltwater lake in India. It is also the largest wintering ground for migratory birds on the Indian subcontinent. The maximum length of Chilka Lake is 64 kilometres.

If we consider the length only (and not the overall area), then Vembanad Lake (spread across many districts of Kerala) comes at the top with a length of 96.5 kilometres.

Wular Lake, located in the Bandipore district of Jammu and Kashmir, is the largest freshwater lake in India measuring approximately 260 sq. kilometres. This natural lake is dwarfed by several artificial man-made lakes. Gobind Ballabh Pant Sagar located in Sonebhadra district, Uttar Pradesh, is the biggest man-made lake in India. The lake is created by the reservoir of Rihand Dam. Similarly, Dhebar Lake, which is also called Jaisamand Lake and is located in the Udaipur district of Rajasthan, is the second biggest man-made lake.

Rajasthan’s Sambhar Lake is the largest inland saltwater lake in India, with a surface area of approximately 200 sq. kilometres.

Tso Lhamo Lake (also called ChhoLhamo/Chholamo Lake) located in North Sikkim is India’s highest lake, located at an altitude of 5,330 metres above sea level.