Bhrikuti was married to the Tibetan king Srongchong Gampo in the 7th century. According to Buddhist lamas, Guru Rinpoche meditated and practiced in the Bhrikuti Mountains and its surrounding area.
MUSTNAG:- Pasang Gurung of Surkhang, Lo-Ghekar DamodarKunda Rural Municipality-4, Upper Mustang, is concerned that the 108 ponds that were visible in the lap of the Bhrikuti Mountain until a decade and a half ago are in danger due to climate change.
Gurung, who takes religious pilgrims and foreign tourists to the Bhrikuti Mountain region on horseback to Damodar Kund, said that the small tanks have been buried and only a few are visible.
Gurung said that the lake area, located at the foot of the mountain at an altitude of 6,476 meters on the border of Mustang and Manang districts and the border with Tibet, China, was buried by avalanches and rocks and debris as temperatures rose. The foot of the mountain is reached after a 3-hour journey on horseback from the holy pilgrimage site of Damokar Kunda.
The impact of climate change in the Bhukuti Himalayas is causing problems for small lakes, including melting snow and avalanches, said Jhayang Chhesa Gurung, ward chairperson of Loghekar Damodarkunda-4. Ward chairperson Gurung says, “Climate change has affected everything from the ground to the mountains. The lakes that were visible earlier have now disappeared. It is impossible to travel normally in that area, and there is a problem of flooding.”
Ward Chairman Gurung says that various researchers should visit the area around Bhukuti Mountain and study it to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Umesh Poudel, head of the Annapurna Conservation Area Office Lomanthang, who recently returned from observing the Bhrikuti Mountain, said that he was able to observe only a few small lakes. Poudel said, “The lakes are visible in a flooded state, some are dry, and after the avalanche, they return to their original form.”
Chief Poudel says that since there is less human traffic around Bhukuti Mountain, it is also considered a safe habitat for wildlife. Poudel says that pilgrims who go to bathe in Damodar Kund and foreigners who go on adventurous treks visit the Bhukuti Mountain area to observe the lake.
Foreign tourists who travel from Saribun Bhanjyang to Manang, considered one of the most difficult and adventurous high-mountain trekking routes in Nepal, also visit the Damodar Kund area to observe the Bhrikuti Mountain. The Bhrikuti Mountain is historically named after Princess Bhrikuti, a national figure of Nepal and the daughter of the Lichchhavi King Anshu Varma.
Bhrikuti was married to the Tibetan king Srongchong Gampo in the 7th century. According to Buddhist lamas, Guru Rinpoche meditated and practiced in the Bhrikuti Mountains and its surrounding area.
According to Krishna Prasad Subedi, a priest at Muktinath Temple, the Kaligandaki River originated from the melting snow of the mountain, as the Bhrikuti Mountain and Damodar Kunda area are considered the sacred abode of Lord Vishnu according to Hindu Puranas.
Priest Subedi said that in Hinduism, there is a popular belief that bathing in 108 ponds with the Bhrikuti Himal as a witness destroys sins and leads to salvation. Mentioned in the Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran: In the Bhagwat Puran and Baraha Puran, the Muktinath and Damodar Kunda areas are worshipped as the land of gods.
