Decoding the mystery of India’s ‘lake of skeletons’
Have you ever visited the Himalayas? If yes, did you get the opportunity to go to the ‘lake of skeletons?’ Wait, skeletons in a lake? Is this for real? Well, the answer is yes.
High up in the Himalayas (at a whooping height of 5029 metres), there’s a remote glacial lake hidden within the snowy valleys of Uttarakhand, more specifically at the bottom of the steep slope of Mount Trishul (one of the highest peaks in India). It is scattered with hundreds of human skeletons. You may have chanced upon its more popular name: Roopkund Lake.
Here's everything about this one-of-a-kind lake strewn with human skeletons.
The mysterious ‘lake of skeletons’
The existence of Roopkund Lake in the heart of the Himalayas has been known throughout history. However, its identity as the ‘lake of skeletons’ saw the light of the day only in 1942, when a British forest ranger came upon it while patrolling the site. He saw human remains located underneath the ice, that often float ashore during the warm season.
As you can already guess, the lake remains frozen for most parts of the year, expands and even shrinks, thanks to its high altitude. Hence, the human remains often remain out of sight. However, whenever the snow melts, human skeletal remains are revealed, often with flesh attached. Needless to say, due to the freezing climate, the skeletons are very well preserved.
Okay, so exactly how many skeletons have been found till date? The answer’s quite alarming, around 600 to 800. But how did so many skeletons end up in this lake, located in the middle of nowhere? That still remains a mystery to be solved.
Studies reveal that most of the skeletons were of people with more than average stature, most of them were middle-aged adults, aged between 35 and 40 years. There were also a few elderly women, but no children. Research also suggests that they did not die of natural causes as they had reasonably good health.
Theories behind the identities of human skeletons
Over the century, anthropologists have studied the remains closely and have come up with several theories about who the skeletons in Roopkund Lake might belong to.
For instance, one of the earliest theories suggests that the remains are that of an Indian king, his wife, other family members and attendants, all of whom might have died in a blizzard, dating back to nearly 870 years ago.
Then there is also a theory that the remains belong to Indian soldiers who had tried to invade Tibet in 1841, but failed. While some were left in the snow by Tibetans to die, others got lost on their way back and eventually succumbed to death.
Perhaps the most viable theory is that, it was an ancient mass grave where victims of a 19th century epidemic were buried.
In this regard, let us also enlighten you on what the locals believe. People of Uttarakhand consider the legend rooted in a popular folk song, that reveals how Goddess Nanda Devi (yes, the very one after whom the Nanda Devi, India’s second highest mountain range, is named) may have created a hail story “as hard as iron” killing an entire village.
Diverse group of people
All the above-mentioned theories have never really been scientifically proven. However, a recent five-year-long study involving as many as 28 scientists from 16 reputed institutions based in India, USA and Germany genetically analysed and carbon-dated the remains of 38 people. Guess what they found? The remains were genetically diverse and their deaths did not occur around the same time. While some were 1000 years old, others were 1200 years.
But what does this imply? A single catastrophe didn’t lead to the deaths of all the people. More importantly, not all of the remains were Indians. While some were South East Asians in origin, others may have been Europeans, such as ancient Greeks and Romans. There were also people belonging to both north and south of the Indian subcontinent.
Okay, so what exactly led to the deaths of so many diverse people, that too during separate time periods? Well, since no arms or weapons were found at the site, scientists assume that the deaths were not caused by human wars. There were also no traces of trade goods, nor is the lake anywhere near a known trade route. As for diseases, no ancient pathogen was detected in the remains. So, that doesn’t explain the mysterious and mass deaths either.
Now, here’s something interesting. Even though history shows no credible proofs that the area was known to humans prior to the 19th century, there are local temples near the lake that go back to 8th and 10th centuries. So, a section of the scientists has come to believe that mass deaths occurred during these periods, especially during the pilgrim seasons. Eventually, it was the work of nature that the remains ended up in the lake.
But why would foreigners come to visit Hindu temples, that too centuries apart? The answers are yet to be found!