15/11/2023
THE TALE OF SHOUGELA LAKE ABOVE GEDU AND ON THE TOP HILL OF GELAKHA VILLAGE UNDER GELING GEWOG CHHUKHA
The lake is located to the North-East of Gedu town, which is about six hours walk uphill from Gedu. The story goes that the present lake site used to be a flat hollow plateau with a cow shed at the center. The shed belonged to a family from the adjacent Gelekha village under Geling Gewog Chhukha . One evening when the mother and her daughter were attending to their usual chores, a bird flew in from the nearby forests and perched on their shed. The bird prophesied that a lake shall be formed at the site and advised them to vacate their shed by dawn the next day. As instructed by the bird, the mother-daughter duo left the place and started walking uphill at the break of the dawn next day. As their move progressed into the mountains high up, they saw the place being hovered by birds of varying sizes and colours and wherever. They saw water oozing out from places that birds pecked and soon the place where their cow shed stood was filled with water.
As they were walking further up the mountains, the daughter suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to bring along her precious personal possessions (in local dialect known as Gencha which generally comprised of a girl’s personal collection of ornaments); she had left them behind hanging by a pole in the cow shed. Without even a thought, she turned back and started running downhill. The mother shouted from behind and asked her not to go back but the daughter did not heed to these words and continued running down. She waded through the water towards the shed but the water level rose and she got drowned before she could get to her precious possessions. The mother was left crying inconsolably at the far corner. Just then, the place was enveloped with thick clouds and the daughter was seen walking on the water. She cried, “Dear Mother, cry not, for my destiny lies here, and forever I shall dwell here”. She came close to her mother and consoled her not to mourn her demise. She gave her mother a small packet covered in red cloth and told her that it would end all her worldly miseries and walked back towards the lake and finally vanishing into it.
With her daughter vanished into lake, the mother continued her journey towards her village. On reaching her village in Gelekha, she opened the packet and found it filled with precious stones. Even to this day, it is believed that the descendants of the woman in the village possess these precious stones. The father of the girl was so infuriated to know that his daughter had disappeared into a lake. He rushed to the spot where she had disappeared and started clawing the ground at a corner with his bare hands in his attempt to burst open the lake. Legend says that even today one can see the dug part of the ground (Pl refer the photograph published in this album). It is believed that the pole onto which the girl had hung her Gencha had turned into a solid gold post. It is still believed that the girl, who was believed to have turned into a mermaid, attends Paro Tshechu every year in various forms.
The fable also has it that the people of Wanakha village which is located along the undulating slopes from Chunzom to Gelekha had once slaughtered the lake oxen (Tsho Lang) that had wandered into the nearby grazing land. This infuriated the mermaid and she cursed that the village of Wanakha be inflicted with shortage of water. It is said that even today, the hamlet of Wanakha depends on rain water for their daily livelihood which is invariably so uncertain. It is also believed that a certain Lama from the Western region once ventured into the domain of the lake with the view to subdue the mermaid but that apparently happened during the Paro Tshechu and the mermaid was not in the lake; she had left for the Tshechu. The lake was so serene and tranquil that lama decided to go back without causing any harm to it.
The above event was followed by visit of three gomchens from the east to the lake. They went there to get the golden post. One of them gulped the whole lake in one sip and the other two started chopping the post at the base with the axes. The one holding the water in the mouth opened his mouth to ask his accomplices to cut the base in smaller pieces to facilitate easy transportation. At this the water gushed out with full force and submerged all three of them. Subsequently, the mermaid converted them into her faithful attendants.
The lake exists today in all its serenity and can be even seen from high up in the sky by the passengers of the Druk Air. In the ancient days, the main trade route between Phuentsholing and Thimphu used to pass through the vicinity of the lake. And quite often the travelers used to camp nearby. It is believed that some fortunate persons sees her in their dreams in the form of a mermaid or a beautiful girl; some more fortunate ones are believed to have seen the mermaid in real while the less fortunate ones would see her in the form of a serpent. It is said even today that any visitor to the lake area should respect its sanctity or else face the wrath of the deity......
Source :Chen Dee FB
