Gosaikunda

The sacred alpine lake at 4,380m in the Langtang region of Nepal, 50 kilometres north of Kathmandu. Hindu tradition holds that Shiva struck the mountainside with his trident to find water for the gods and goddesses — gaseous mineral springs still bubble up through the lake — after he drank the halahala poison produced by the churning of the ocean. The lake freezes solid for seven months. On Janai Purnima each August, pilgrims take ritual bath in the ice-cold water. The surrounding Langtang National Park's 2015 earthquake landslide killed 320 pilgrims and residents of Langtang village below. The lake is reached by three-day trek from Dhunche.