Gurudongmar Lake

Gurudongmar Lake
Buddhist Holy Lake -Gurudongmar Lake
Location	North Sikkim, India
Coordinates	28°01′N 88°43′E / 28.02°N 88.71°E / 28.02; 88.71Coordinates: 28°01′N 88°43′E / 28.02°N 88.71°E / 28.02; 88.71
Basin countries	Sikkim, India
Surface area	118 hectares (290 acres)
Shore length1	5.34 kilometres (3.32 mi)
Surface elevation	17,004 ft (5,183 m)
Settlements	Mangan, North Sikkim 122 km. Lachen, North Sikkim 67 km.
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Mangan, North Sikkim 122 km.

Gurudongmar Lake, is one of the highest lakes in the world and highest lakes in India , located at an altitude of 17,800 ft (5,430 m) in the Indian state of Sikkim. It is a lake which is considered sacred by both Buddhists and Hindus. The lake is named after Guru Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, founder of Tibetan Buddhism who visited the lake in the 8th century.

The lake has been claimed to have been blessed during the 15th century by Guru Nanak, the spiritual leader of Sikhism while he had passed through this area. However, this claim has been disputed since by the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok.

The high altitude lake which remains frozen during winter months is located in the region of northern Sikkim, is in the district of North Sikkim. It is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the Chinese border. The lake can be reached by road from Lachen via Thangu. It is 190 kilometres (120 mi) away from Gangtok, the capital city of Sikkim. The approach road from Thangu to Gurudongmar passes through a rugged and enchanting terrain with "stony moraine", which has high alpine pastures covered with many rhododendron trees. While Indian tourists are allowed to visit the lake, foreigners need to get a special permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi.

A legend related to the frozen condition of the lake is linked to the visit of Guru Padmasambhava to the lake, on his way back from Tibet. When he saw the lake he felt that the lake was worthy of veneration as it represented the divine location of Dorje Nyima or Chhoedten Nyima. As the lake remained frozen most of the year with no possibility of providing for drinking water needs, the people of the area appealed to Padmasambhva to help them. Then the guru agreed to help them and placed his hands on a small part of the lake area which stopped freezing during winter thus facilitating the source of drinking water to the people. Since then the lake has been considered sacred and devotees carry this sacred water in containers.