Saturday, 09 March 2024 | PNS | UTTARKASHI
Located in Uttarkashi, Nachiketa Tal represents amazing and sublime beauty of nature. Hemmed in by dense forests on its sides, it embodies a peace that seems almost palpable. A small temple in the vicinity of the lake enhances its sanctity.
This place finds mention in the Puranas and the name is derived from Nachiketa, the son of the saint Udaka, who is believed to have created this lake. Though just 32 km away from Uttarkashi town, this lake has been vegetating with the developmetal momentum eluding it. Its huge potential as a place of tourism interest has remained untapped with scarce accommodation and food facilities, prompting tourists to keep it outside their tour itinerary.
According to former panchayat member Jaipal Singh Panwar, this place is being kept out of bounds of the mainstream development initiatives, resulting in its stagnation. “Things are so bad that even on the occasions like Shivratri, when the devotees come here in their hordes to have darshan of the Lord in the temple by the lake they face quite a umber of problems like bad road and nearly non-existent accommodation and fooding facilities. We wrote to the State tourism minister Satpal Maharaj and also the forest department to improve things here so as to facilitate footfalls of domestic and foreign tourists. In case this happens, it will be win-win for the common people and the government alike,” he added.
