Sahastralinga Talav, an artificial tank, was built by the Siddhraj Jaisingh (1093 -1143 AD), the Chalukyan ruler of Gujarat in Patan. This tank is situated on the north-western part of Patan, on the banks of the Saraswati river. The architecture of this tank integrated the great sense of water management and sanctity of water in Hindu religion. The tank used to receive water from a canal of the Saraswati river and had spread about five km with masonry embankments. About thousand of shrines dedicated to the Lord Shiva were constructed on the edge of the water tank, but now there are remains of only some shrines. Looking at the ruins, one can imagine the grandeur of this great water tank.

An inscription found in the Shiva temple in Vyala Kua Street of Patan indicates that the lake was part of a much larger work. At present, the Sahastralinga Talav is dry and the earth work are buried under the sands of the Saraswati river, the same river that was once filled with water. According to some local people the tank was dry to the curse given by the Jasma Oden. A famous story of Siddhraj Jaisingh and Jasma Odan, a beautiful woman of the tank diggers’ community, revolves around this tank. She refused to marry the Siddhraj and committed Sati to protect her honour. It is believed that her curse made this tank waterless and the king without a heir to the kingdom of Gujarat. The Sahastralinga Talav is pentagonal in shape, and marked by a series of mounds showing its shape. The earthworks circumscribe an area of several kilometers and about 1 km broad. The total area of the Talav is about 17 hectares. At its fullest, it would have contained about 4,206,500 cubic metres of water. In the centre of the Talav is a large earth heap, the Bakasthana. On a raised platform over it, was built a rauza, an octagonal structure of Lakhori bricks. The most interesting of the relics are the channels, the well, steps and side elevation of the Talav, and a bridge. The channel runs from north to south and connected the lake to the Saraswati river.