Nagdaha is a beautiful lake with a high religious
value, in the Dhapakhel Village Development Committee that takes up
about five hectors of the area. The place also allowed boating, however, due to some security reasons, it was stopped.
In the village of Dhapakhel, this pond with a statue of nag deva
(snake god) is quite an amazing and peaceful place for relaxing. The
place could be reached by boarding a bus from Lagankhel bus-park and
five minute walk. The pond contains the water plant along its border at
one side. The place not only holds tourism value but also religious as
the image of snake is worshipped during the Nag Panchami on the Nepali month of late Srawan or early Bhadra.
It is believed that in ancient times, Lord Shiva used to live at
Nagdaha which made the goddess worried about her own decreasing number
of devotees. She then transformed herself into a pig and started making
grunting noises. Lord Shiva thinking that the lake was dirty because of
the existence of pigs there went in search of clean place and settled
himself at Gosainkund Lake in Rasuwa district.
There is another legend that unites the two lakes, Taudaha and Nagdaha of the Kathmandu
valley. It was said that a female serpent lived in the Nagdaha and a
male in Taudaha. Every year during the rainy season, the male serpent
visited Panauti to participate in a Jatra. He used to visit Nagdaha
during his journey two and from Panauti as Nagadaha is on the way. In
Nepal, the snakes are believed to bring good rains and prosperity to the
country.
It is also said that when Manjushree drained the Kathmandu valley
with a sword cut through the Chobhar hill, the ‘nagas’ were allowed to
live in the newly created small lakes and the Basuki Naga, was allowed
to stay in Nagadaha.
Another legend says that the people used to pray to Nagadaha when
they needed utensils for festive occasions or ceremonies. Their prayers
were answered and the utensils appeared miraculously on the lake. The
utensils were cleaned and returned to the lake after use but one day, a
person did not clean them properly before returning and from that day
on, the God of the Lake got angry and stopped providing utensils.
The village people use the lake for various purposes like washing
clothes, bathing, fishing, irrigation, recreational activities, tourism
as well as religious purposes. share on
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