Gurudongmar Lake: The Highest Lake in the world

Gurudongmar Lake, it is considered as a sacred lake for Buddhists, Sikhs, and Hindus. The lake is named after Guru Padmasambhava-also known as Guru Rinpoche-founder of Tibetan Buddhism, who visited in the 8th century.

It is claimed that the lake was blessed in the 15th century by Guru Nanak, the spiritual leader of Sikhism, while he passed through this area.

The lake, fed by glaciers, is located to the north of the Kangchengya range, in a high plateau area connected with the Tibetan Plateau. It provides one of the source streams which joins the Tso Lahmu and then form the source of the Teesta River. The lake remains completely frozen in the winter months, from November to Mid-May.

The Story behind this Scared Lake
Because the lake remained frozen most of the year with no possibility of providing for drinking water needs, the people of the area appealed to Padmasambhava to help them. The guru agreed to help and placed his hands on a small part of the lake area, which stopped freezing during winter, facilitating drinking water to the people. Since then, the lake has been considered sacred and devotees carry this sacred water in containers.

Some stories say that in the 15th century, Sikh Guru Nanak Dev Ji passed through the lake while on his return from Tibet, he was asked by the local people of Gurudongmar Village to help make the frozen lake a source of drinking water during the winter period, he touched part of the lake with his walking stick, making the lake free of snow throughout the year.