Last updated: October 2026 · Method: desk research — the twin lakes below the fort’s southern walls are documented across traveller accounts and city geography; access is informal, so visit in daylight.
Directly beneath Mehrangarh’s southern ramparts lie two quiet lakes most itineraries skip: Ranisar and Padamsar — twin tanks dug in the fortress centuries, one attributed to a queen (the Rani), one to a prince, holding water at the foot of the walls where the fort doubles itself in reflection. If Gulab Sagar is the old city’s mirror, these are the fort’s.
What they are
Two adjacent reservoirs on the fort’s south side, connected in the old water system that fed the fortress and its neighbourhoods (part of the network our wells and water guide maps). The stone embankments are old, the ghats are quiet, and the photographic draw is obvious: Mehrangarh’s walls rising straight out of the water’s edge; the closest thing Jodhpur has to a lake-palace view without a palace.
How to visit
- Finding them: walk the fort road’s southern loop or ask any local for “Ranisar”; the lakes sit a few minutes below the rampart walk.
- Timing: morning for still water and the reflection; golden hour for the wall colour. Combine with the fort visit (see the fort guide), the lakes are the natural post-museum decompression.
- The quiet alternative: for the crowds-avoidance logic, this pair beats the busier Gulab Sagar tank, same water-and-stone drama, fewer visitors.
Questions worth asking
Can you walk around them?
Largely yes, along the embankments, with the usual care for old stone edges and open water (the family guide’s water rules apply).
Why don’t the guides mention them more?
Because the fort above eats the attention, which is precisely why the reflection shot from water level feels like a discovery.
Related guides
Walked the embankments? Send the water level and the light, tank reports keep this pair on the map.