Roopkund Lake is a five-day hike from the closest village, but it is filled with the skeletons of hundreds of people, and nobody knows how they got there.
Dinodia Photos / Alamy Stock PhotoRoopkund in Uttarakhand, India, also known as “Mystery Lake” or the “Lake of Skeletons.”
High in the Himalayan Mountains of India lies a small body of water known as Roopkund Lake. It’s just 130 feet across and 10 feet deep, but its glacial waters are crystal clear. Although it’s surrounded by the natural beauty of the snow-covered peaks, the lake — a popular hiking destination for trekkers from around the world — is best known for the hundreds of human skeletons found in and around its waters.
It’s a mystery how, exactly, these skeletons came to be at Roopkund Lake. The lake itself is located 16,500 feet above sea level, where it expands and shrinks based on the season and the weather. The skeletons are only visible when the snow melts, but the sheer number of them — as many as 800 — is staggering.
There are, of course, several theories about how hundreds of bodies wound up so high in the remote mountain, which is a five-day hike from the closest major settlement. Studies have sought to analyze the remains, hoping to find some sort of answer — but the more researchers learned about Roopkund Lake, the more questions they had.
To this day, the true story of what really happened at Roopkund Lake remains elusive.
A Forest Ranger Discovers Hundreds Of Skeletons In The Indian Himalayas
In 1942, British forest ranger Hari Kishan Madhwal came across a startling sight at Roopkund Lake: numerous human skeletons scattered around the water’s edge. Situated at an elevation of approximately 16,500 feet in the Indian Himalayas, the lake had concealed its macabre secret from the world for centuries. However, as the summer season brought in warmer temperatures that melted the icy waters, even more skeletons began to appear.
Initially, locals and government officials alike assumed that the remains belonged to fallen Japanese soldiers who had tried to invade India, which was controlled by the British at the time. Upon closer examination, however, it became apparent that the bones found at Roopkund Lake couldn’t have been from modern enemies.
Schwiki/Wikimedia CommonsSome of the human remains discovered at Roopkund Lake.
Despite traces of hair and even skin apparent on the skeletons — which remained well-preserved thanks to the cold, dry Himalayan air — the Japanese soldier theory was dismissed upon the realization that the bones in question were far, far too old.
The discovery and subsequent announcement sparked worldwide interest among researchers, historians, and the general public, leading to numerous expeditions and studies aimed at unraveling the mystery of the so-called “Lake of Skeletons.” And though several theories were put forth, none could quite explain the strange circumstances.
Theories About What Happened At Roopkund Lake
One of the most prevalent early theories regarding Roopkund Lake involved a local legend, which claimed that King Jasdhaval of Kannauj, along with his entourage, embarked on a pilgrimage to the Nanda Devi shrine 900 years ago. However, the story goes, their indulgent behavior angered the goddess, resulting in the entire retinue being trapped in a catastrophic hail storm that claimed their lives.
Another similar theory popped up shortly after. This time, it was posited that a military expedition had become lost in the mountains, ultimately succumbing to the harsh conditions of the Himalayas. Others speculated that an epidemic might have befallen a group traveling through the area, leading to mass fatalities.
BASAVARAJ KULLI / Alamy Stock PhotoA group of people trekking to Roopkund Lake, which is located high up in the Himalayas.
Nearly all of these early theories share one thing in common: they posit that the skeletons at Roopkund Lake died in a single, calamitous event. After all, the lake’s remote location wouldn’t exactly have made it a common pit stop.
However, given that there could be anywhere from 600 to 800 skeletons at the lake, it seems odd that so many people could die and be lost to history.
Additional theories and rumors continued to abound over the years, with people speculating upon the possibility of everything from a catastrophic landslide to ritual suicide, but it would be decades before a second startling observation was made: The skeletons spanned more than 1,000 years.
Scientific Studies Reveal Shocking Truths About Roopkund Lake’s Skeletons
Dinodia Photos / Alamy Stock PhotoThe sheer amount of human remains at Roopkund has given it the nickname the “Lake of Skeletons.”
In 2019, a study published in the scientific journal Nature revealed something unexpected: The skeletons of Roopkund Lake consisted of at least three different groups of people. But the researchers’ findings only got stranger from there.
The five-year-long study analyzed 38 of the bodies and found that there was no way they all could have died in the same event. Their DNA revealed that most of them were genetically related to modern South Asians — but a few had Mediterranean ancestry. What’s more, the Asian skeletons dated back some 1,200 years, while the Mediterranean remains were much more recent, likely from the 19th century.
The older bodies were easier to explain. The legend of a hail storm seemed to have some truth, after all. Many of the skulls had fractures caused by blunt-force trauma. And a ridge that runs above Roopkund Lake is part of a pilgrimage route for the goddess Nanda Devi. The ninth-century skeletons may indeed have been pilgrims who were lethally pummeled by hail. Over the years, landslides and avalanches likely pushed their bodies down the steep slope toward the lake, where they came to a final rest.
This hypothesis is supported by the fact that artifacts like slippers, bamboo parasols, and seashell bangles have also been found at the site. Devotees of Nanda Devi were known to carry such items during their pilgrimages.
Yash Soorma/Wikimedia CommonsThe peak of Trisul, where Roopkund Lake can be found.
However, the Mediterranean bodies were puzzling. There are no records of large groups of Europeans in the area in the 1800s, particularly not anyone who would be following a Hindu pilgrimage trail. Some scientists questioned whether they may have been local descendants of Alexander the Great’s army, which invaded India in 327 B.C.E., but the remains showed evidence that they’d eaten a Mediterranean-based diet, as well.
In the end, nobody really knows who the skeletons at Roopkund Lake are or how they got there. All scientific studies to date have led to more questions than answers. What we do know is that they died in multiple events over the course of more than 1,000 years, they were all seemingly in good health, and they were mostly middle-aged adults. Other than this, almost everything about the bodies remains an enigma.
Were they all pilgrims caught in unfortunate weather conditions? Did they get lost in the snowy mountains and die of exposure? Did Nanda Devi really bring hail “as strong as iron” to kill an ancient king? We may never know. But for now, the chilling mystery of Roopkund Lake continues to draw the attention of scientists and curious tourists alike.
After reading about the eerie history of Roopkund Lake, check out the tale of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition. Then, learn about all the bodies of dead climbers strewn across Mount Everest.
