The name means lion’s lake, a reference to the wildlife once found around this stretch of water outside Deogarh, where the Sisodia clan’s Rawats built a fortified hunting and shooting lodge in the 17th century, five kilometers from their main seat at Deogarh Mahal. Set on a small island reachable by boat or a narrow causeway depending on the season, the fort served as a private retreat for Mewar’s feudal lords away from the business of ruling their 210 villages.
Like much of Deogarh’s fortified architecture, its design owes to the Sompuras, a Gujarati clan of temple and palace builders known across Rajasthan. The fort fell into ruin for decades before Colonel Randhir Singhji, Thakur of Deogarh, and his son restored it in 2005, converting the crumbling structure into a four-room luxury villa with a central courtyard, its rooms named after classical Indian ragas. Guests can use the pool and dining room at sister property Deogarh Mahal, and the surrounding moat and lake fill each year after the monsoon.