Macchial Lake or Machyal Lake is a low altitude lake which is situated in

Mandi district Mandi district is one of the central districts of Himachal Pradesh state in northern India. The town of Mandi is the headquarters of the district. The main native language is Mandeali. As of 2011 it is the second most populous district of ...

in the state of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peak ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. The lake is considered sacred and is named after Machinder Nath or Matasya Avtar of Lord Vishnu literally 'The Fish God'. One of the famous disciple of Yogi Machinder Nath was

Guru Gorakhnath Gorakhnath (also known as Goraksanath, c. early 11th century) was a Hindu yogi, saint who was the influential founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India He is considered one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. His follow ...

. Yogi Machinder Nath learnt the Science of Shabar Mantra from The

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

, and teaches the same to his deciple

. He is also seen as the founder of the

Natha Nath, also called Natha, are a Shaivism, Shaiva sub-tradition within Hinduism in India and Nepal. A medieval movement, it combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and Yoga traditions in India.Sampradaya ''Sampradaya'' ( sa, सम्प्रदाय; ), in Indian origin religions, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, can be translated as 'tradition', 'spiritual lineage', 'sect', or 'religious system'. To ensure continuity and ...

'', having received the teachings from

Lord 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 Hind ...

Getting there

The lake is located 8 km southwards from

Jogindernagar Jogindernagar, or Jogindar Nagar (Hindi: जोगिंदर नगर) (), is a municipality, and a sub district in Mandi district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Named after Raja Joginder Sen, the hill station is the terminus of th ...

at Joginder Nagar-Sarkaghat state highway. Further, 2 km southwards is the first

Mahseer Mahseer is the common name used for the genera '' Tor'', '' Neolissochilus'', '' Naziritor'' and '' Parator'' in the family Cyprinidae (carps). The name is, however, more often restricted to members of the genus ''Tor''.Sen TK, Jayaram KC, 1982 ...

farm of India at the village of Bhararu. A comparatively larger and wider stream is one kilometre eastwards of the lake near Uhl stage 3 project site that remains crowded with Himalayan Golden Mahseer.

Religious Significance

Machhiyal is sacred to local natives and surrounding villages. In earlier days, people made their wishes to Machinder Nath and on fulfilment of their wishes, they would offer the promised gift to the God. One of such offerings was to ornament the sacred Himalayan Golden

fish with gold nasal rings and in earlier days such sacred Golden Mahseer fish wearing golden rings could be noticed easily in the Lake. This tradition has almost disappeared nowadays. However, it is still common to feed fish to pay obeisance or as a wish for good luck and to avoid bad luck. People take holy baths in the stream on particular days of

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a ...

. Fishing is prohibited in the stream following religious significance. A fair marking the commencement of the Indian traditional month Vaishakh is held here every year. It is held during three days in which people from surrounding villages gather and observe the fair with great pomp and show. Along with a number of other sports activities including wrestling or kusti is centre of interest which is held on the final day. Wrestlers from distant cities and districts come to show their talent and to win a handsome prize money.

History

Around 2000's, due to presence of some poisonous substances discharged into the river Ranna Khadd, hundreds of fish died in and around the Machhial Lake. Showing divine respect toward the god, devotees buried all the dead fish in nearby land and criticized the incident with anger and resentment.

External links

Machhiyal lakehimachaltourism.gov.in
Lakes of Himachal Pradesh Geography of Mandi district Jogindernagar {{HimachalPradesh-geo-stub