- Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in India.
- The lake is located at Moirang in Manipur state.
- Known for its floating circular swamps, which are called phumdis in the local tongue,
- The lake invites tourists from far and wide for its ethereal beauty.
- These swamps look almost like islands and are a mass of soil, organic matter, and vegetation.
- The lake houses the only floating national park in the world, the Keibul Lamjao National Park, which is the last refuge of the endangered brow-antlered deer or sangai, Manipur’s state animal.
- In addition, the lake shelters about 230 species of aquatic plants, 100 types of birds, and 400 species of fauna like barking deer, sambar, and Indian python.
- Loktak lake was initially designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1990.
- Later it was also listed under the Montreux Record in 1993.
Keibul Lamjao National Park:
- Loktak lake hosts the world’s only floating national park, the Keibul Lamjao National Park.
- It is a natural habitat for the browantlered deer or the Sangai – which is the state animal of Manipur. The national park is characterized by many floating decomposed plant materials locally called ‘phumdis’ (a Manipuri word meaning floating mats of soil and vegetation).
- Loktak Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in the north-eastern region of India and has been designated as a wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1990.