Prashar Lake

Parashar Lake

Parashar Lake

Parashar Lake
Location Mandi district
Coordinates 31°45′15″N 77°06′05″E / 31.75426°N 77.10141°E / 31.75426; 77.10141Coordinates: 31°45′15″N 77°06′05″E / 31.75426°N 77.10141°E / 31.75426; 77.10141
Type Holomictic
Primary inflows Rain water, Glaciel runoff
Primary outflows Evaporation
Basin countries India
Surface elevation 2,730 m (8,960 ft)
References Himachal Pradesh Tourism Dep.
Parashar Lake in Feb 2014. Ground is covered with snow and the lake is frozen.

Parashar Lake lies 49 km north of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India, with a three storied pagoda-like temple dedicated to the sage Parashar. The lake is located at a height of 2730 m above sea level. With deep blue waters, the lake is held sacred to the sage Parashar and he is regarded to have meditated there. Surrounded by snow-capped peaks and looking down on the fast flowing river Beas, the lake can be approached via Drang.

The temple was built in the thirteenth century and legend has it was built by a baby from a single tree. The lake has a floating island in it and it is said to be unclear how deep it is, with a diver not being able to determine its depth.[1]

Mythology

Mythology says that this lake was formed by Pandawas when they were on their way after Mahabharata with Deity Kamrunag (based on which this entire valley is known as Kamru Valley today) to find best place for their teacher, Dev Kamrunag and Deity love the isolation of this place so much that he decided to stay here for the rest of his life. On his request, Bheem one of the Pandava brothers formed the lake by pushing his elbow and forearm on the peak of the mountain. And that is the reason believed by locals after oval-shaped lake with depth unknown. Many a time in storms an almost 30-meter-tall cedar tree would fall into the lake to disappear.

Today people from all faiths come here. As an offering people throw money, silver coins and gold into the water. This place is available for visitors throughout the year except for winter months, i.e. Dec. through March. Now with increased visitors there are few hotels available with basic facilities with reasonable price. 03 hrs (106 km) trek from Rohanda to Kamrunag Lake. The place is full of peace, with old images of Gods and Saint Prashar. The unique thing about this lake is that there is a patch of grass which moves from one end to the other. In the summer it is at one end and in winter it touches the other end. The pujari or the priest of the temple is not a brahmin but a Rajput. They say one of the kings was unhappy with the local priest so he appointed a Rajput priest to display his powers.


Prashar

References

  1. ↑ "Temples in the Clouds", film by Jim Mallinson and Chicco Patuzzi, 2008, http://www.filmsouthasia.org/archive/details.php?id=1016
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