Ooty Lake, Ooty

Ooty Lake is perhaps the most popular destination among the tourists who visit Ooty. The Lake is an artificial one that was built by John Sullivan in 1824 and covers an area of 65 acres. It was constructed after collecting the water that would flow down from the mountains during the monsoons. However, it had to be emptied out thrice after it went above its mark.

The idea was to prepare the lake for fishing by local fishermen. The lake is no longer its original size and has shrunk because of various geographical factors and because of the construction of a bus stand, a race course and a lake park in the vicinity.

A short-term dam trapped the streams coming down from the hills and the lake was formed with the accumulated water. Today the lake is popular among the tourists because of the boating opportunity that it offers. The clear Ooty Lake is the venue of various leisure activities like angling and boating. In fact, during the month of May a boating race is organized by the state government and the event lasts for two days. One can enjoy the scenic beauty of the lake by leisurely boating in its calm waters. Watching the "sun go down‟ from the banks of the lake is an evergreen experience.