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I've just stumbled over a number of news reports about Roopkund Lake, India.
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=37849#compstory
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/...2004063001521900.htm&date=2004/06/30/&prd=bl&
I've had a look around for info on the local folklore and some sites state that the bones are attributed to a General Zorawar Singh and his army and entourage who were travelling back to India from Tibet.
However:
http://www.junglelure.com/roopkund.htm
and
http://www.tourismofindia.com/sts/stuttadv.htm
Mystery behind Roopkund Lake unearthed
Expressindia.com
Posted online: Saturday, October 30, 2004 at 1423 hours IST
New Delhi, October 30: Finally the mystery has been demystified. The Roopkund riddle, dating back to the 9th century AD, that haunted scientists, historians and mountaineers from around the world for many years, has finally been cracked.
The National Geographic Channel with the help of scientists and anthropologists from India and abroad has cleared many theories and myths surrounding the age-old tragedy.
It all started in 1942, when a forest ranger accidentally unearthed a mass grave in Roopkund Lake, an area 16,000 feet above sea level in Uttaranchal. With hundreds of skeletons strewn on the slopes of the Himalayas this colossal tragedy shook people worldwide.
Several theories were put forth to explain this riddle, which were further perpetuated by local folklore. Was it a royal pilgrimage or a vanquished army? Did they die in ritualistic suicide or in an epidemic? Or could they have been a group of Tibetan traders who lost their way?
Then for the first time National Geographic Channel sent up a team of Indian and international scientists led by cultural anthropologist Dr William Sax (Head of the Anthropology Dept at Heidelberg University, Germany) to reveal the truth. The other key members included Dr Walimbe, Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, Prof Rakesh Bhatt of India's Garhwal University, Paleopathologist Dr Pramod Joglekar of the Deccan College, Pune and Dr MPS Bhist, a Himalayan.
It started out as a regular excavation where the team retrieved several hundreds of bones and artifacts strewn on the slopes.
However, the most remarkable find came a bit later when the team discovered a body. It proved to be a rich source of DNA material. Over the period of a year, as the test results from different laboratories around the world started coming in, the various pieces of the jigsaw started falling into place.
National Geographic Channel has made a documentary film called Skeleton Lake detailing the latest findings and the truth behind the tragedy. The programme will be aired on National Geographic Channel on November 9, 2004 at 10 pm. The programme was produced by Miditech (Pvt Ltd), directed by Chandramouli Basu and written by Niret & Nikhil Alva.
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=37849#compstory
Date:30/06/2004
CCMB cracks Roopkund mystery
Hyderabad , June 28
THE skeletons are finally out of the closet of the mysterious remains of `a set of ancient humans' near the snow-clad Roopkund Lake in the Himalayan heights of Uttaranchal.
Who were those 200-odd people buried in and around the 5,029-metre high lake, was the question that puzzled people ever since they came to light.
Were they Chinese? Were they pilgrims, amateur trekkers or an army of people accompanying a queen on a joyride or followers of General Zorawar Singh of Kashmir? These and many other questions tormented and fascinated people around the world for centuries.
The city-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has finally cracked the mystery shrouded in these skeletons and came out with several astonishing facts using modern Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) fingerprinting analysis.
Nestled in the lap of Trishul, one of the highest Himalayan peaks, the lake remains frozen for almost 11 months in a year. One can see those skeletons and flesh remains only when the snow melts.
The CCMB studies found that those skeletons belonged to Indians and not Chinese. An interesting aspect of the people dead in the 8th century is that they had an extra bone in the head. "Though a rare thing, we found such people in the country," said Dr Lalji Singh, Director of CCMB.
The institute even identified the probable region from where those people hailed.
Dr Singh, however, did not specify the region citing an agreement with the National Geographic. Yet another attribute of the Roopkund strangers were that they were quite tall and possibly belonged to the same family. About 30 specimens were being analysed with some more expected in the near future.
He said the institute signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) last week to conduct studies on nature and extent of genetic variation of ancient population in the Indian sub-continent.
The MoU also sought to reconstruct evolutionary history of man in India using molecular evidences and to examine the genomic contribution of the ancient people to the present population.
A database comprising information of genomic-diversity of ancient populations of the sub-continent would be built.
Earlier, Dr M.K. Bhan, Secretary of Department of Biotechnology (Govt of India), inaugurated a latest facility for CCMB's Ancient DNA Studies wing.
Addressing a gathering after the inaugural, Dr Bhan felt that India lacked mentoring. Calling for development of a model for problem solving, he said the scientist was just one aspect of the whole affair and other agencies in society needed to play a role. "There are large gaps. We need to bridge them."
© Copyright 2000 - 2004 The Hindu Business Line
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/...2004063001521900.htm&date=2004/06/30/&prd=bl&
I've had a look around for info on the local folklore and some sites state that the bones are attributed to a General Zorawar Singh and his army and entourage who were travelling back to India from Tibet.
However:
[...]
According to another legend the royal family undertakes the pilgrimage along with their purohits to seek forgiveness from Nanda Devi, and to offer ‘tarpan’ to one of their ancestors who died at Roopkund along with his pregnant wife and courtesans. Rajah Yashodhaval of Kannauj came on a pilgrimage to the dev bhoomi. His pregnant wife and women of the royal family accompanied him.
He decided to go to Homkund along with his entourage. He didn’t heed to the advice that women were not allowed beyond Bedni-Kund. He broke the tradition and went ahead. At Roopkund the Rajah and his entourage perished mysteriously, most probably in a snow-blizzard. [...]
The general prejudice against the folk-lore led many scholars to attribute the bones to General Zorawar Singh of Kashmir, and his men, who are said to have lost their way and perished in the high Himalayas, on their return journey after the Battle of Tibet. Along with bones of humans, bones of horses have also been found there. But this theory does not explain the presence of female skeletons. Carbon dating of the skeletons, done of Crane and Griffin in 1958 proves that the bones are indeed between 500 to 800 years old. During the Raj Jat even today, ‘tarpan’ is performed for Rajah Yashodhaval and his entourage.
http://www.junglelure.com/roopkund.htm
and
The mystery lake of Roopkund has attracted many a besotted traveler since the discovery of human skeletons in the lake and the glacier descending into it. For many years the origin of the skeletons remained a mystery. Some thought it to be the remains of General Zorawar's army that lost its way while returning from Tibet. But the popular belief, narrated in the folk traditions about the pilgrimage to Nanda Devi undertaken by Raja Jasdhaval and his wife the Garhwali Princess Rani Balampa, who perished in a hailstorm at Jurangali, appears to be closer to the truth; especially since the carbon dating of the skeletons and its anthropological studies point towards the authenticity of this folk-lore.
http://www.tourismofindia.com/sts/stuttadv.htm