Shikaras

. Shikaras are of varied sizes and are used for multiple purposes, including transportation of people. Drivers use oars having a unique spade-shaped bottom to row the shikara. A usual shikara seats half-a-dozen people, with the driver sitting at the lower end. Like the Venetian gandolas, they are a cultural symbol of Kashmir. Some shikaras are still used for fishing, harvesting weeds(usually for fodder) and transport in the deeper parts of Dal Lake, while most are covered with tarpaulins and are used by tourists. Some are used as floating homes by poor people [cite web
author=Kevin Sites
year=2006
title=Boat People, Unable to afford homes on land, the poorest of Kashmir’s poor live on open fishing boats, where life is always unsteady.
publisher=Yahoo! News
accessdate=2006-06-06
url=http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs5224] .

lakes, visiting places of interest. A very popular postcard photo of a shikara is the florist's shikara, in which the florist carries varied flowers for sale.

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