Roopkund
Roopkund | |
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Location | Chamoli, Uttarakhand |
Coordinates | 30°15′44″N 79°43′54″E / 30.26222°N 79.73167°E |
Average depth | 3 metres (9.8 ft) |
Surface elevation | 4,536 metres (14,882 ft) |
Roopkund (locally known as Mystery Lake or Skeleton Lake)[1] is a high altitude glacial lake in the Uttarakhand state of India. It lies in the lap of Trishul massif. Located in the Himalayas, the area around the lake is uninhabited and is roughly at an altitude of 5,020 metres (16,470 ft),[1] surrounded by rock-strewn glaciers and snow-clad mountains. Roopkund is a popular trekking destination.[2] The size of the lake varies substantially, but it is seldom more than 40 metres in diameter (1000 to 1500 square metres in area), and is frozen in the winter.[3]
With a depth of about three metres, Roopkund is widely known for the hundreds of human
Human skeletons
Skeletons were rediscovered in 1942 by a forest ranger of the
Local legend says that the King of
Identification
Remnants belonging to more than 300 people have been found. The
Conservation concerns
There is growing concern about the regular loss of skeletons and it is feared that, if steps are not taken to conserve them, the skeletons may gradually vanish in the years to come.[17] It is reported that tourists visiting the area are in the habit of taking back the bones in large numbers and the district administration has expressed the need to protect the area.[13] The district magistrate of Chamoli District has reported that tourists, trekkers, and curious researchers are transporting the skeletons on mules and recommended that the area should be protected.[11] Government agencies have made efforts to develop the area as an eco-tourism destination to protect the skeletons.[18]
Tourism
Roopkund is a picturesque tourist destination and one of the important places for trekking in
In popular culture
Roopkund's skeletons were featured in a National Geographic documentary, "Riddles of the Dead: Skeleton Lake".[20][21] India's Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) commissioned the documentary "The Mysterious Frozen Lake in the Himalayas",[22] where a scientific team and a film crew try to investigate the lake.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Alam, Aniket (29 June 2004). "Fathoming the ancient remains of Roopkund". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 November 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ISBN 9788173871078.
- PMID 31431628.
- ^ Andrews, Robin George (20 August 2019). "The Mystery of the Himalayas' Skeleton Lake Just Got Weirder: Every summer, hundreds of ancient bones emerge from the ice. A new genetic study helps explain how they got there". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- ISBN 9788170998983.
- ^ a b c "Skeleton Lake of Roopkund, India". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- ^ PMID 31431628.
- ^ "Roopkund lake's skeleton mystery solved! Scientists reveal bones belong to 9th century people who died during heavy hailstorm". India Today. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
- ^ Woodward, Aylin (22 October 2019). "A remote Himalayan lake holds up to 800 skeletons from people who died 1,000 years apart. The mystery remains unsolved". Business Insider. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ Menon, Hari (8 November 2004). "Bones Of A Riddle". Retrieved 31 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Roopkund's human skeletons go missing". Deccan Herald. 24 September 2007. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
- ISBN 9780615156972.
- ^ a b Kazmi, SMA (12 November 2007). "Tourists to Roopkund trek back with human skeletons". The Indian Express.
- ^ Pant, Alka Barthwal (2018). "Roopkund Mystery "Pathology Reveals Head Injury behind the Casualties" (PDF). Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology. 6 (2018): 1084‐1096. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ a b Orr, David (7 November 2004). "Giant hail killed more than 200 in Himalayas". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "8th International Symposium on Biomolecular Archaeology" (PDF). isba8.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2018.
- ^ "Skeletons:AWOL". Satesman. uttarakhand.org (Govt. website). 16 July 2005. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ Kazmi, SMA (5 February 2009). "Roopkund's skeletal tales". The Tribune. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9788170998709.
- ^ "Skeleton Lake". Miditech.tv. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- National Geographic Channel
- ^ The Mysterious Frozen Lake in Himalayas., retrieved 18 March 2021
Further reading
- ISBN 0140240454.
External links
- Uttarakhand travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Roopkund Trek, District Administration-Almora
- Roopkund Lake. Garhwali Traveller
- Dunning, Brian (14 August 2012). "Skeptoid #323: 8 Spooky Places, and Why They're Like That". Skeptoid.
4. The Skeleton Lake of Roopkund
- The Skeletons at the Lake; article in The New Yorker magazine
- Roopkund Human Skeletal Remains: A Short Note on the Signs of Nutritional Stress and Anemia on the Cranial and Orbital Surface
- Roopkund: An Unsolved Mystery