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Gosaikunda is situated at an altitude of 4,380 metres above sea level in the Langtang National Park in Rasuwa. There are four different trails one can use to reach Gosaikunda from Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchok districts: Kathmandu-Dhunche-Gosaikunda; Melamchi-Kutumsang-Thadepati-Gosaikunda; Sundarijal-Kutumsang- Gosaikunda; and Ghyangphedi-Yarsa-Gosaikunda.
Of them, the Kathmandu-Dhunche-Gosaikunda trail is the most popular. It takes around six hours on a bus to reach Dhunche, the district headquarters of Rasuwa, located 117 kilometres from Kathmandu. Dhunche is a small town that sees cool weather throughout the year and snowfall during the winter.
Tourists, both foreign and domestic, visit the area around the year. September to November and March to May are the main trekking seasons in this region. A couple of decades back, it was foreigners who would mostly be seen trekking but of late domestic tourists are seen as equally enthusiastic trekkers, according to tourism entrepreneurs. “Besides pilgrims, the number of domestic tourists who come exclusively for treks has been significantly rising in the past two years,” said Subba Lama, who owns a hotel in Chandanbari.
Besides trekkers, Gosaikunda sees a huge number of pilgrims mainly during two major festivals—Janai Purnima and Gangadasahara. The holy Gosaikunda lake has unparalleled importance for Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. The Hindus believe that all the Hindu deities descend to the lake in Janaipurnima, and therefore, taking a holy dip in the lake is their chance to get closer to divinity.
According to Hindu mythology, Gosaikunda is the abode of Hindu god Shiva and goddess Parvati. Various Hindu scriptures refer to Samudra Manthan, which is directly related to the origin of Gosaikunda. The lake is believed to have been created by Lord Shiva when he thrust his trident into a mountain to extract water so that he could cool his burning throat after swallowing poison during Samudra Manthan.
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