Day 18 of the "virtual (digital) tour" of places known for unusual customs, practices, mysterious phenomena. This post is part of the A to Z Challenge and Blogchatter A2Z 2026
These skeletons of 600 to 800 people, remain hidden beneath the snow for most of the year. It is only when the ice melts that they emerge, scattered around the shores and beneath the water.
Owing to the harsh weather, some of them are remarkably well-preserved, with flesh, hair, and even wooden artefacts still intact.
HOW OLD ARE THEY
In 1942, a British forest ranger, H K Madhwal, stumbled upon them while patrolling.
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| Roopkund Lake sits at the bottom of a steep slope on Trisul, a group of three Himalayan peaks - Image courtesy: Atish Waghwase/BBC |
For decades, scientists believed that one single event had killed a large group of people there. But, a 2019 DNA study of 38 skeletons revealed that the remains were deposited during multiple events spanning nearly 1,000 years.
Research shows that one group of people died between the 7th and 10th centuries. They were probably pilgrims, as the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra, an ancient Hindu pilgrimage, still passes near the lake today.
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| The remains of an estimated 600-800 people have been found at the site. Image courtesy: Himadri Sinha Roy/BBC |
Studies also found that the skeletons of 14 people were of Mediterranean ancestry, dating to around the year 1800. This remains a mystery, because there is no historical record of Mediterranean travellers in this remote region during that period.
CAMPING BANNED
The skeletons remain at the site, with no attempts made to relocate or bury them. The focus is instead on preservation and scientific genomic and biomolecular analysis in laboratories in India and abroad.
Unfortunately, the area has suffered from the impact of trekkers. Some have tampered with the remains, moved them around, and even taken bones home as souvenirs!
To protect the site from further environmental and archaeological damage, the government has banned camping in the fragile alpine meadows leading to the lake.
(Information sources: BBC, Nature, Outlook Traveller, Wikipedia)
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Hari Om
ReplyDeleteRandom! Really Rude of the Ramblers to Raid the Remains, too... how disRespectful! YAM xx
That's fascinating Pradeep - especially with the bones being from different timeframes. And people are so ignorant and spoil it when greed and disrespect come into play.
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