Roopkund ''Skeletal lake'' in the upper Himalayas, Uttirakhand '


Skeletal lake. Indiatraveltime.com


Roopkund,The Himalayan skeletal lake,India wikipedia.org


 At a height of 16,500 feet above the sea level, in the middle of no-where  in the most uninhabitable, harsh part of the mighty Himalayas nestled in the picturesque glaciated valley  lies the secluded Roopkund Lake, covered in snow and surrounded by rock-strewn glaciers. It is a kind of eerie place. Not for fun and relaxation; it is not a favorite spot for holidaying either. More popularly known as ''Skeleton Lake'' or ''Mystery Lake,'' the spine-chilling attraction of this lake is the 600 odd human skeletons of various parts that were discovered here. These skull and skeletal remains of  Homosapiens dating back to the 9th CE are clearly visible at  the  shallow Himalayan lake.


Skeletal Lake, the Himalayas, Indiabbc.com/

Upon seeing  the visible bottom of the lake with heaps of human skeletons, you may be wondering whether you have come to the makeshift graveyard of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea and others (1976-79) or remnants of Nazi atrocities (1933 to 1945) in concentration camps like Auschwitz or Sobibor or Treblinka   master-minded by devils like Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, et al. 

These skeletons will become visible only when the snow melts and exposes the lake's sedimentary bed at the bottom. The locals believe that this entourage - once  tribes  while moving from one place another, for unknown reason, had earned the fury of the local deity, ''Latu'', who sent a terrible hailstorm their way. Caught midway in a no man land, they were helpless and eventually died most probably due to extreme cold conditions. Later the dead bodies were transported to the near-by lake by snow melt water and ultimately got buried in the bottom of the lake over which large volume of sediments and silt were deposited by the water. Definitely this will scar you silly if you trip on them at night when it is pitch dark when camping here. 

 The location of the Skeletal lake is the highest point in Uttarakhand state and this lake  was first spotted by patrolling British Forest Ranger  in 1942. As to their origin, it is a subject of debate. there are no skeletons of children, but included were women. Scientists genetically analyzed and carbon-dated the remains of 38 bodies, including 15 women, found at the lake - some of them date back to around 1,200 years. As for the above assumptions, scientists say they are are not true.