Gosaikunda

Gosaikunda is a cluster of high alpine freshwater lakes in Nepal's Langtang National Park, sitting at approximately 4,380 m in the Rasuwa District of Bagmati Province (sources vary between 4,300 m and 4,460 m depending on survey and exactly which shoreline point is measured). The main lake has a surface area of roughly 13.8 hectares, and together with its companion lakes — commonly cited as 108 in number, though only a handful (Saraswati Kunda, Bhairav Kunda, Surya Kunda, Ganesh Kunda, Dudh Kunda, Chandra Kunda, Ama Kunda among them) are named and visited — the wider lake complex covers around 1,030 hectares and was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 2007. The lake is the principal source of the Trishuli River and remains frozen for roughly five months of the year, from November to March. Gosaikunda is one of Nepal's most important pilgrimage sites, sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists. Hindu mythology holds that Lord Shiva struck his trident (trishul) into the mountainside to release water and cool his throat after swallowing the poison Halahala during the Samudra Manthan (churning of the cosmic ocean); a large submerged rock is popularly identified as a Shiva lingam. Tibetan Buddhist tradition separately connects the site to Guru Rinpoche, said to have meditated here roughly 600 years ago. Thousands of pilgrims — including Jhankri shamans — climb to the lake every Janai Purnima (the August full moon) for ritual bathing believed to cleanse sin, and again for Gangadasahara. English mountaineer and explorer Bill Tilman visited and wrote admiringly of the lake in 1949. The surrounding Langtang National Park (established 1976, Nepal's first Himalayan national park) shelters red pandas, snow leopards, Himalayan tahr, musk deer, and over 250 recorded bird species including the Himalayan monal.