Gosaikunda, also spelled Gosainkunda, also called Silu. is an alpine freshwater oligotrophic lake in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

Langtang National Park Langtang National Park was established in 1976 as Nepal's first Himalayan national park and the country's fourth protected area. It exceeds an elevation range of and covers an area of in the Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Sindhulpalchok Districts of the ...

, located at an elevation of in the

Rasuwa District Rasuwa District ( ne, रसुवा जिल्ला is one of 13 districts of Bagmati Province and one of seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Dhunche as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population ( ...

with a surface of . Together with associated lakes, the Gosaikunda Lake complex is in size and was designated a Ramsar site on 29 September 2007. The lake melts to form the

Trishuli River The Trishuli River ( ne, त्रिशूली नदी) is one of the major tributaries of the Narayani River basin in central Nepal. It originates in Tibet as a stream and enters Nepal at Gyirong Town. Etymology The Trishuli is named after ...

; it remains frozen for six months in winter October to June. There are 108 lakes in the vicinity. The Lauribina La pass at an elevation of is on its outskirts.

Religious significance

Gosaikunda full moon festival in the rain (4934406940)

The Gosaikunda area has been delineated as a religious site. Hindu mythology attributes Gosaikunda as the abode of the

Hindu deities Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati. The deities of Hinduism have evolved ...

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

and Gauri. The Hindu scriptures

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in S ...

Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana ( IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus. The manusc ...

and the epics

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

and

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

refer to

Samudra manthan The Samudra Manthana ( sa, समुद्रमन्थन; ) is a major episode in Hinduism that is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, a major text of Hinduism. The Samudra Manthana explains the origin of the elixir of eternal life, amrita. Nom ...

, which is directly related to the origin of Gosaikunda. Its waters are considered holy and of particular significance during the Gangadashahara and the

Janai Purnima List of festivals celebrated in Nepal: Main festivals Dashain ''Dashain'' ( ne, दशैं , also ''Baḍādaśhãin'' or ''Bijayā Daśamī'' ne, बिजया दशमी) is the 15-day-long festival and holidays of Nepal. It is the ...

festivals when thousands of pilgrims from Nepal and India visit the area. According to legend the spring that feeds the pond in the

Kumbheshwar temple complex The Kumbheshwar temple complex is one of the oldest and busiest religious place of the old Patan town lying on its northern part. The major deities whose temple or shrine lies within the complex includes Kumbheshwor Mahadev, Bangalamukhi, Unman ...

in Patan is connected to Gosaikunda. Therefore, those who cannot make the long journey to the lake, visit Kumbeshwar Pokhari instead.

Gosaikunda in popular culture

Among the Newars Gosaikunda is known as Silu. As such it is the subject of a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

and a 1987 film inspired by that song.Songs of Nepal: An Anthology of Nevar Folksongs and Hymns
by Siegfried Lienhard, Asian Studies at Hawaii, No. 30, Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Hawaii Press, 1984,

References

External links

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: ''The Annotated Ramsar List of Nepal''
{{Hydrography of Nepal Lakes of Bagmati Province Ramsar sites in Nepal Protected areas established in 2007 Hindu pilgrimage sites in Nepal Sacred lakes Lakes of Nepal