Manasarovar Lake
| Manasarovar Mapham Yumtso मानस सरोवरः |
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July 2006
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| Location | China |
| Coordinates | 30°39′N 81°27′E / 30.65°N 81.45°ECoordinates: 30°39′N 81°27′E / 30.65°N 81.45°E |
| Surface area | 410 km2 (160 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 90 m (300 ft) |
| Surface elevation | 4,590 m (15,060 ft) |
| Frozen | Winter |
Lake Manasarovar (also Manas Sarovar, Mapam Yumtso; , Tibetan: མ་ཕམ་གཡུ་མཚོ།, Wylie: ma pham g.yu mtsho; Sanskrit: मानसरोवर ) is a freshwater lake in Tibet, China. The lake is considered very sacred by Tibetans, Buddhist, Hindus, and Jains.
According to legend, Lake Manasarovara is the lake in which a great Tibetan monk saw the letters "Aha", " Kha", " Mha". These three initials helped the search team to locate the current the 14th Dalia Lama of Tibet. The three initials stand for the province, the district, and the monastery in which the current Dalai Lama was born, i.e. Ahamdho, Khunbum, and Taktser respectively.
Lake Manasarovar lies at 4,590 m (15,060 ft) above mean sea level, a relatively high elevation for a large freshwater lake on the mostly saline lake-studded Tibetan Plateau.
Lake Manasarovar is relatively round in shape with the circumference of 88 km (54.7 mi). Its depth reaches a maximum depth of 90 m (300 ft) and its surface area is 320 km2 (123.6 sq mi). It is connected to nearby Lake Rakshastal by the natural Ganga Chhu channel. Lake Manasarovar is near the source of the Sutlej, which is the easternmost large tributary of the Sindhu. Nearby are the sources of the Brahmaputra River, the Indus River, and the Ghaghara, an important tributary of the Ganges.
Lake Manasarovar overflows into Lake Rakshastal which is a salt-water endorheic lake. These lakes used to be part of the Sutlej basin and were separated due to tectonic activity.
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