Lake: Six kilometres away from Lhamoizingkha in Dagana, there is a lake at a place called Khurul. It is an oyster lake significant and sacred to the people.

People in Lhamoizingkha frequently visit the serene lake site to conduct rituals and ceremonies during auspicious occasions. There are many legends associated with the lake.

“A child had contaminated the lake,” said a woman. So there was strong windstorm in Lhamoizingkha recently. This is the prevailing belief in and around Lhamoizingkha.

The lake is green. The silence there is haunting. Sometimes visitors can be seen burning incense and making offerings at the lake.

The lake has a unique red fish living in it that is found only in the oceans, said people in the locality. The lake has oysters, and so, the name of the lake.

But the oyster lake is shrinking by the day. There is a passage from where the lake water runs out. Locals said that it could be because of dirtying the lake, which infuriates the deity of the lake.

“It was a very big lake before,” Ambar Gurung said.

Ambar Gurung is one of the committee members who coordinate and conduct rituals at the lake.

From the Lhamoizingkha-Raidak highway, the lake is just a 10km drive away.

Another Lhamoizingkha resident CB Gurung said the oyster lake was slightly larger when he had seen it five years ago.

CB Gurung, a villager, said that according to the story that he heard from his parents and grandparents, the lake used to be “very big.”

Last year, a fund was secured to build protection walls around the lake and proper drainage system. But the people do not want to disturb the deity of the lake.

“Some people came to me to tell me to stop the work,” said Ambar Gurung. It has been about a year since the completion of work at the lake. That is why the deity of the lake is unleashing his wrath by sending heavy rain and flash floods, accordign to locals.

The properly channelled waterway saves the lake from draining excessively.

It is believed that a hunter discovered the lake long ago. Mysterious sightings at the lake frightened him and he fled.

Today, however, the lake is fast becoming a tourist spot for both Bhutanese and people from abroad.

Rajesh Rai | Lhamoizingkha

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