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Rakshas Tal

Nepal / Darchula / Dashrathchand /
Tib. La'nga Co, Nep. Rakas Tal.
The sister lake of Manasarovar is Rakas Tal or Rakshastal. It is at a height of 4515 m. It is divided from Manas by a narrow isthmus. Here, in a moment of ecstasy, Ravana the ruler of Lanka stood on one foot, performed tapasya and invoked Lord Shiva's blessings. The Tibetans refer to this lake as Lhanag Tso ("lake of the black deities") or the demon lake. They never drink the water of this lake, as they consider it as inauspicious.

Manasarovar and Rakshas Tal are associated with the sun and the moon, powerful symbol of tantric Buddhism. The symbol of the sun signifies the ultimate divine emptiness or power. The moon reflects relative emptiness. For bodhichitta (enlightened mind) which doesn't differentiate between one sentient being (person) from the other this signifies the love and compassion of the highest order. The association of the Manasarovar with sun and Rakshastal with moon represents the shapes of the respective lakes - Manasarovar being similar to the full orbit of the sun while Rakshas Tal closely resembles a half moon.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Rakshastal
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   30°43'2"N   81°13'3"E

Comments

  • হাবাগোবা (guest)
    রাক্ষস তাল, তিব্বত
  • hsoeldner
    The Chinese name is La'nga Co.
  • gruschke
    La'nga Co is the Tibetan name, is just written in a Chinese transcription. If you transcribe the Chinese characters you get La'ang Cuo, which is still a transcription of the Tibetan term (as there is now "Chinese name" for it as such).