The 9 Most Mysterious Lakes in Tibet

Namtso Lake - the lake in the arm of the scared mountain
Namtso means "heavenly lake" in the Tibetan language. The lake is located between Damxung County and Palgon County, 240 kilometers away from Lhasa. The lake is 4,718 meters above sea level, 70 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide.

It is the largest salt lake in Tibet Autonomous Region, and the second largest in China as well as the highest lake in the world.

According to historical documents, the lake looks like the sky descended to the earth, and that is why people call it "heavenly lake."

Namtso Lake formed in a depression created by the movement of the Himalayan Mountains during the tertiary period. Today, we can still see ancient shorelines around the lake left after the lake had receded. The highest one is about 80 meters.

Pagsum Lake - the lake on the sun throne 
Pagsum Lake (aka Basum Lake), meaning "Three cliffs lake" in the Tibetan language, is the sacred lake of Nyingmapa as well as the largest fresh water barrier lake in the eastern part of Tibet. It is located in Kongpo Gyamda County in Tibet's Nyingchi Prefecture, 400 kilometers away from Lhasa.

Amiable Tangra Yumco Lake
Here is the world's famous "no man's land." There are only one people per six square kilometers in the Wenbu District.

"Daguo Mountain," another scared mountain in Tibet and the "Tangra Yumco Lake" are located in the lonely Wenbu wasteland. It is rarely mentioned by people except that they were told in some legends.

Tangra Yumco Lake is the largest lake that is auspicious for followers of Tibetan Bonism. The lake, 4,600 meters above sea level, 70 kilometers long and 20 kilometers wide, is also the third largest one in Tibet.

Lhanag-tso Lake - the lake of Gghosts
Tibetans will not forget to pray beside the ghost lake- Lhanagtso, because they have tolerance, understanding and open-minded compassion.

The Ghost Lake and the holy Lake are not far from each other and have an interlinked waterway. However, their water qualities are totally different. The water in the holy lake is clear and sweet, while the water in the other one has a bitter taste.

Mapham Yutso - Mother of holy lakes
Ali means "the end of the heaven" for Tibetans. It's 2,000 kilometers far from Lhasa and is also called the "roof of the world's roof."

According to Tripitaka, there is a four rivers' source at the foot of a snow mountain. This source refers to the Mapham Yutso, mother of holy lakes. "Mapham" means "invincible" in Tibetan.

Mapham Yuntso is 4,500 meters above sea level. The deepest place is 77 meters and the perimeter of the lake is about 90 kilometers.

Lamuna Lake - skull of the Pelden Lhamo
There is a famous lokapala in Tibetan Buddhism named Pelden Lhamo. The shape of Lamuna Lake is like a skull, therefore, the Tibetans considered this lake as an embodiment of Pelden Lhamo's skull. It is also called "Drolma Lake."

As its height is equal to the snow line, there are few people that are lucky enough to worship there. Its position has never moved during the hundreds of years' dissension, because it is considered to be the most scared holy lake in Tibet. When the Dalai Lama or Panchen Lama pass away, people have to worship the lake in order to gain some enlightenment from it before finding the reincarnated soul boy.

Yamdrok Lake - turquoise earbobs scattered by a fairy
Yamdrok is considered to be the most beautiful water in the world. It means the "jade lake on the pasture" in Tibetan. However, Tibetans think it is the turquoise earbob scattered by a fairy. No matter at what angle, you can not see the panorama of Yamdrok- tso.

Yamdrok Lake - is special for its water source, snow water of Nyenchhen Tanglha Mountain Range. The water has no outlet, the snow water's inflow and its natural evaporation has reached a natural equilibrium.

Siling Lake - "Devil Lake" where the arch devil lives
Siling is an arch devil who used to live in Duilongdeqing County, west of Lhasa. He greedily devoured thousands of lives everyday including both human beings and animals.

One day, the Padmasambhava found Siling and asked him to stay in the lake forever and confess. From then on, people called the lake "Siling-tso" which means the "Siling Devil Lake."

Pangong Lake
The last one is the famous lake Pangong located in the north of Ali. Although it doesn't have any magic or scared meaning in the aspect of religion, it is the most famous one among these nine lakes.

Some part of the lake is located in Kashmir and this part is salt water lake with no vegetation. However, its middle and west parts are in China and it is a fresh water lake with many kinds of fish and flourishing grass.