Gosaikunda Trek from Sundarijal

Introduction:

The Gosainkund area is named after the primary attraction which is several high altitude lakes. It is a very holy religious site for both Buddhists and Hindus. Several legends exist concerning the formation of the lake. One commonly accepted version simple described here mentions Gods trying to obtain immortality from the ocean. As a result, the ocean became unbalanced and poisons rose to the surface. Then the Hindu god Lord Shiva sacrificed himself after seeing the poisons and drank it. He became very ill and thirsty so he traveled into the Himalayas and created the lakes by piercing the snow covered mountainside to obtain pure water to cure a terrible sickness and thirst. There are five or more lakes at the area called Gosainkund but the two largest lakes are referred to the most. The are roughly 14,000 feet in elevation. They lie on a ridge just off the crest and the waters collected here by the snows forms the headwaters of the Trisuli River.