Baraha Pokhari is both a trekking trail and a lake of religious significance, lying in the mid-hill of Khotang district, province 1, Nepal. having the length of 800 metres and the width of 500 metres, the pokhari is situated at the elevation of 1700 metres at Baraha Pokhari Rural Municipality. It has the quality of alluring and pleasing visitors by exquisite views of the mountains like Bouddha, Manaslu, Himalchuli, Lamjung Himal, Machhapuchre, Annapurna, including other smaller peaks.
Baraha Pokhari trek will mean an adventurous trip for you because it is comparatively less travelled by, as described by the poet Robert Frost in his poem “The Road Not Taken”, referring to the road the poetic persona has yet to go along, which, to cite the poet’s words, “as just fair, and having perhaps the better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear”. You can see local shepherds herding their sheep and goats, a traditional method of keeping livestock.
One Hindu myth reads that Baraha Lake was founded by God Baraha, an incarnation of God Vishnu into the form of a wild pig so as to save the earth from the havoc of the demon Hiranaksha. This is the reason the Pokhari holds religious importance for the Hindus. Every full moon day in April, they organize a Mela, that is the fair, when people from far and near pay homage to the spot and take dips into the lake, with the belief that the Baraha God will bless them with the power to materialize their dreams.
-Article written by: Bedu Khatiwoda for Land Nepal
