Rupkund, the ‘lake of tragedy’, lies at a height of 15, 750 ft above sea level below the right flank of the famous Trishul peak in the Garhwal Himalayas. For a long time it remained unknown to the world but then some people reported having seen some bones and some belongings like leather chappals etc. Suddenly Rupkund became a subject of mystery and several scientific expeditions were made to the site but nothing authentic was established.

In 1961, I was posted as Forester at Debal in Garhwal and I was on duty with the then DFO North Garhwal, Mr DN Misra, an ardent lover of the mountains.

We had reached Patarnachauni, a place supposed to be the dancing place of the spirits. Moving on we soon reached Balpa Sulira, a place where Balpa, the queen of Kannauj, was supposed to have delivered a child. In the Garhwali dialect ‘sulira’ means delivery .The going was very tough as the place was littered with huge boulders which had apparently broken away from the upper slopes. We reached another landmark called Bagu Basa. It was a big Udiyar -a place with an overhang of rock which could give protection to trekkers from sun and snow. This could easily take in about 6 to 8 persons. It was full of snow at that time. We moved on and had hardly gone 300 yards or so when the sunny weather we had enjoyed till now abruptly turned cloudy and drizzle started with flashes of lightning and thunder. The drizzle turned into snow and sleet. The weather cleared miraculously after a little while but again turned nasty. The shepherd boy who had accompanied us was scantily clad and he was shivering badly. As it flashed we found our hair stand on end because of electrical charge. We reluctantly decided to abandon the attempt and turn back. However, as we walked back dejectedly the weather once again cleared and we were glad to resume our trek.

We crossed several snow nullahs and we enjoyed sliding on the snows. We crossed a huge boulder and were about 500 yards below the Rupkund lake. We could clearly see Rupkund and Jura Gali. We were very happy and thought that we would be able to make it to the Rupkund. But no! It was not-be. The rain and thunder returned with mounting fury. We tried to shield ourselves but the snow and sleet was unrelenting and we saw above us a mass of snow sliding down. It was already 6 pm and it would be getting dark soon. We had to negotiate the dangerous boulder strewn path on our return and there was no time to lose. With deep disappointment we turned back and tried to reach Kailovinayak before darkness enveloped us. From Kailovinayak the path was through Bugyals which would present no problems.

It was very cold and our feet and hands were numb. Mr Misra gave me his scarf which I put around my face. It became quite dark when we reached Kailovinayak but the dangerous part of the route was over. We moved on to Patarnachauni and here we were overtaken by a thick shroud of mist. The torchlight was of no use at all and we were in danger of losing contact with each other and getting lost. We caught hold of each other’s hands as we pushed forward. Mr Misra felt we had lost our way as he could not recognise any of the land-marks. We had certainly lost our way and we discovered this when we saw a small light of a camp of sheep and goat graziers. We had gone down the slope considerably and we were directed to the right path which was along the ridge. As we started trudging upwards the mist miraculously cleared. What a wonderful sight it was! In the full moonlight the two peaks of Nanda ghunti and Trishul stood loftily, as if brooding over the miseries of mankind down below.

We soon resumed our trek and by the time we reached Vernede’s Hut it was 2 am. All of us were fully exhausted. Mr Misra lighted his stove and prepared tea for us. I could not sleep as I had slight stomach pain. The forest guard was snoring in the hut. He had very considerately kept some chapatis for me but they were completely frozen. I got up next morning with pain all over my body. I was relieved when a message came that we would be halting at Ali for the day. But the relief was short-lived as the next message from the DFO was that we had to move on to Bhuna that very day. I saw Mr Misra in a very jovial mood as usual. He had developed blisters on both of his feet. We started off for Bhuna.

There were so many theories about Rupkund. But Swami Pravana Nand’s theory appeared to be nearest to the fact. According to him, the Raja of Kannauj undertook a holy journey to Hemkund. His queen, Balpa, accompanied him and while on this trek his queen gave birth to a child. And then a snow avalanche swept and buried the entire group. I saw some bones with flesh and shreds of saffron cloth preserved in Nature’s natural freezer.