Roopkund Lake – Uttarakhand (Skeleton Lake)
Roopkund Lake is a glacial lake located at about 5000 meters in the Himalayan ranges of Uttarakhand. In 1942, a forest guard stumbled upon hundreds of human skeletons on the banks of Roopkund. Over the years a number of expeditions by Indian and European scientists were attempted to resolve the mystery of their death. There were several theories suggested to explain these well preserved bones and skulls. One theory suggested them of being the remains of Japanese soldiers from World War II. Some theorized them of being General Zorawar Singh of Kashmir and his men, while others proposed them to be Mohammad Tughlak’s unsuccessful attempts to capture Garhwal Himalaya. Carbon dating of the corpses puts them between 12th and 15th century. The fact that intrigued the investigators was that there was no historical account of trade route to Tibet in this area. One well-established theory speculates them to be the entourage of king Jasdhawal of Kanauj. They are believed to have been on their pilgrimage to the Nanda-Devi Mountain and were caught in a terrible hailstorm with no shelter in the open mountains in which every single one of them perished.