Lakes are inland bodies of standing water, classified by origin (tectonic, glacial, volcanic, oxbow, lagoon, or artificial) and by water type (freshwater or saltwater); India has lakes of many of these kinds.
- Saltwater lakes: Sambhar (Rajasthan, India's largest inland salt lake, a saltern), Chilika (Odisha, the largest coastal lagoon or brackish lake in India), and Pulicat (the second largest lagoon, on the Andhra-Tamil Nadu border with Sriharikota on its bar).
- Freshwater lakes: Wular (Jammu and Kashmir, the largest freshwater lake in India, of tectonic origin), Dal (Srinagar), Loktak (Manipur, with floating phumdis and Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park).
- Glacial and high-altitude lakes: Pangong Tso (Ladakh, partly in India and partly in China-held Tibet, a saline endorheic lake), Tso Moriri, and Roopkund (Uttarakhand, the "skeleton lake").
- Oxbow lakes are cut-off river meanders common in the Ganga and Brahmaputra flood plains; lagoons such as Chilika and Pulicat form behind coastal sand bars.
- Artificial (reservoir) lakes behind dams include Govind Sagar (Bhakra, Sutlej) and Gandhi Sagar (Chambal); Vembanad (Kerala) is the longest lake in India and a Ramsar wetland.
Largest-lake superlatives (Wular freshwater, Sambhar inland salt, Chilika lagoon, Vembanad longest), lake-state matching, and lake origins (lagoon, tectonic, oxbow, glacial) are recurring physiography facts.
Wular is the largest freshwater lake; Sambhar is the largest inland saltwater lake; Chilika is the largest coastal lagoon; Vembanad is the longest. Pangong Tso is saline despite being high-altitude freshwater-fed.
India's lakes by origin and salinity: Wular (freshwater, tectonic), Sambhar (salt), Chilika and Pulicat (lagoons), Loktak (floating), Pangong (high-altitude saline).