The mystery of the giant human bone lake on the Himalayas
Located at an altitude of thousands of meters, Roopkun Lake is a place that hides scary mysteries with hundreds of human skeletons covering the bottom.

Roopkun is a small and shallow lake with a maximum depth of 2 m. 

The lake is located at the bottom of a valley in the Himalayas, Chamoli district, Uttaranchal, India. At an altitude of 4,900 m above sea level, in winter, the lake is covered with snow and ice and surrounded by glaciers and ice mountains. In spring, the ice melts and the water of Roopkun Lake becomes deep blue. The scenery here is majestic and beautiful.
Not only because of the beautiful scenery, tourists work hard, climbing mountains and wading streams to come here, but also because of the horrifying mysteries about this lake. 

When the ice melted and the water dried up, more than 200 human skeletons appeared on the lake bed, creating a terrifying scene. This was first discovered by forest rangers in northern India in 1942. The name Skeleton Lake was born from there.

After opening the investigation, more than 200 complete sets of remains, complete with parts of different sizes, lying alone at the bottom of the lake, were discovered. Low temperatures and dry air created favorable conditions for preserving pieces of flesh, nails and hair.

In addition, scientists also found objects such as iron spears, leather sandals, and jewelry dating back to around 850 AD in the Roopkun Lake area.

Many questions are raised: Who are these people? Where are they from? How did they die?… Hundreds of theories have been put forward to consider and explain this strange thing: Was there a major landslide? Did the epidemic strike suddenly? Is it a ritual suicide? Did they starve? Were they killed in an enemy attack?… 

According to legend, Raja Jasdhaval, the king of Kanauj was traveling with his pregnant wife Rani Balampa. 

While on pilgrimage to the Nanda Devi temple, they suddenly encountered hail. The rain was too strong and there was no place to take shelter, the entire group including the king and his entourage died near Roopkund lake area.

In 2013, researchers concluded that it was likely that the individuals were killed in a hailstorm. Injuries to the remains indicate that they were killed by one or more blows to the head, neck and shoulders from above. 

The conclusion that this group of people died as a result of the intense hailstorm remains the most plausible explanation of what happened. However, whether this is the group traveling with King Kanauj as legendary or not cannot be verified.

Today, scientists are still trying to decode the mysteries surrounding Roopkun Lake. At the same time, measures to protect this place as a natural eco-tourism site are always proposed and implemented.