Mysterious Lake
In the southern part of Siberia in Russia lies the world’deepest and the most mysterious lake in the world, the ancient Lake Baikal. “The Pearl of Russia”, Lake Baikal which has been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 is noted for its remarkable crystal clear water and the thriving biodiversity. Along with holding nearly 20% of the world’s unfrozen fresh water, this nearly 25 million old lake also holds quite a lot of myths, tales, folks and mysteries.
Lake Baikal is one of the world’s most mesmerizing, remote, and mysterious lakes. Full of myths and mysteries both natural and supernatural, this lake is a vast, deep, piece of majestic beauty.
The emergence of the lake of mysteries According to science, due to tectonic movement along fault lines, a deep rift was formed stretching from the Irkutsk Oblast in the northwest to the Buryat Republic in the southeast. Thus this Lake Baikal emerged in the region of Siberia. This incident occurred somewhere around 25 million ago and from then, Lake Baikal has been the epicentre of both mysterious biodiversities and tales. History of strange events, myths, mysterious occurrences, legends and folklore have veiled this wild and remote place.
The tales of the mysterious lake
Many tales and mysteries have taken rise from this Lake Baikal. The first to start with is the unexplained powerful magnetic oddity that is said to occur within a deep part of the Lake Baikal’s rift. The tectonic plates are pulling apart. In the past 50 years, the growth in size is said to have become twice and the rate has been inexplicable. sudden surges of water, unexplained upward shooting of water and strange, mass fish die-offs are pretty common stories that can be heard from time to time. The reason may be due to trapped gasses gurking forcibly from the bottom but the source of gurk remains unknown.
The most spread mystery of the Lake Baikal which has been covered by National Geography, Discovery and much more is the existence of yet-to-be-discovered lake monster- Lusud-Khan or Usan-Lobson Khan as named by the natives for “Water Dragon Master”. In the various text, it has been described as a giant sturgeon which has a prominent snout and an armoured plating to protect the back. Countless reports from the fishermen suggest sighting this elusive huge black creature getting out from the crystal clear water, a beast that could have only existed hundreds of years ago. Derived either from faith or fear, this creature has many names from “gods of the lake” to “dragon fishes.” To some this mysterious creature is the representation of ancient petroglyphs that are found along the Baikal cliff.
The most baffling phenomenon in Lake Baikal that left the world stunned was the natural phenomenon in 2009 when huge circles with nearly 4.4 km diameters started appearing in Lake Baikal’s ice during the cold months. Those circles were first spotted by astronauts on the International Space Station above. Either due to alien activity or due to methane gasses babbling up from the base, Lake Baikal ignited speculation around the globe.
