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| Rakshas Tal |
The yearning to be at their master’s feet makes people do unimaginable things. It did that to the might Dravidian Demon King Lankapati Ravana.
It all started when the headstrong, Egoistic Ravana’s mother fell ill and wanted to be near the lord of Mt Kailasa. Not wanting to disturb his ailing mother, the demon king tried to uproot the mountain with the Lord and his consort and take them away to his kingdom in Lanka. From available materials including stone depictions, it becomes obvious that Devi Parvati was scared and clung to the Lord. Shiva, the calm one, as always, kept calm but was not quiet. He pushed Mt Kailash into the ground with his toe and managed to trap the demon king there.
Realization dawned in Ravana after eons of lying under the mountain that he had met his match if not his Lord. Thus enlightened, he sought the Lord’s blessings through sever penance for which he formed this beautiful though enigmatic waterbody people call “Rakshas Taal”. On the banks of this lake this Managyani (yes, the ten head signify this and not that he was a deformity!) did everything possible to please the god including cutting one of his heads every day till the Lord finally relented!
How could the Lord not relent in the face of such relentless penance! Not only did the Lord give his disciple “darshan”, he also gave him a part of him, his lingum to place in the latter’s kingdom to signify the Lord’s presence.
That was as far as folk-lore goes. Reality too is just as colorful. Covering an expanse of 70 square kilometers at an altitude of 4,752 metres (15,591 ft), Lake Rakshastal or La Nga Co lies to the west of Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash. In dimension, it is slightly smaller than its more know neighnour.
The difference though does not end at size. In stark contrast to the lively Manasarovar which is a fresh water lake, Rakshas Taal’s water is brackish. Marine life or life otherwise, is thus not comparable to Manasarovar. Rakshas Tal then has an eerie, silent beauty to it with a beautiful and majectic deep blue hue.
Once part of the adjoining Manasarovar lake which may have been an inland sea, plate tectonics played the role in separating it with only small channel called Ganga Chhu connecting them. This happened when the earth mass of Gondwanaland rammed into the Eurasian Plate to the norh millions of years back.
Some interesting facts about this lake. Firstly, despite the water being brakish, it is the source of one of the most important rivers in India, Satluj. Secondly, Manasarovar despite its pre-eminent position does not receive any water directly from Mt Kailash, Rakshas Tal does. There is an interesting myth behind the 2nd phenomenon. Apparently, Mt Kailash is the abode of not only of Lord Shiva or Mahadev but also of Kuber, the God of Wealth and prosperity, who not many know, is the half-brother of non other than Lankeshwara, King Ravana. Well, even to the Gods, blood certainly is being thicker than devotion!
Given that most people visit Manasarovar out of piety and devotion, not many find this sister lake with a colorful story interesting enough. But that may be changing as the profile of people visiting this part of the world is also changing.
From Pune if you intend doing the Kailash Manasarovar yatra 2014, there are more than one option though it is advisable to use seasoned travel assistance like Raghukul Holidays to take you to not only for the Kailash Parikrama but also take you to lesser know though no less significant places en route. After all, experience does help!
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About Author :- Amit Kulkarni is the founder of Raghukul Holidays.
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