00:00 Often called the mystery lake, Roopkund's lake of skeletons is a high altitude glacial
00:16 lake famous for the hundreds of human skeletons found along its edges.
00:20 The trek to Roopkund is now banned due to the damage it was causing the surrounding
00:25 alpine forests.
00:26 While you can no longer go there in person, here are a few things you ought to know about
00:32 this strange place in the Himalaya.
00:35 It was first discovered by a British forest guard in 1942 who thought the skeletons belonged
00:41 to Japanese soldiers from World War II.
00:44 Some even believed that the skeletons belonged to a Kashmiri general and his regiment who
00:49 died on their way back from the Battle of Tibet.
00:53 Research later revealed that the skeletons in fact belonged to pilgrims and locals from
00:58 the area.
00:59 A local folk song even suggests that during the Nanda Devi Raj Chauth, the pilgrims defiled
01:05 the area, thereby inviting the wrath of the goddess who killed them all in a hailstorm.
01:13 Located at an altitude of 5029 meters above sea level, many claim to have spotted an eerie
01:19 ghostly presence here.
01:26 [music]
