[Photo from tourismkathmandu.com]

Situated on the outskirts of Kathmandu in in Chobar, Taudaha Lake is the perfect place to have a peaceful timeby yourself or with your friends. With an incongruously solitary tree in the middle of the large water pool, Taudaha also has a variety of fish and migratory birds.

Taudaha Lake, some 6 km southwest of Kathmandu, not only holds cultural significance but is also important for its rich diversity of flora and fauna. According to experts, it is the valley’s only remaining natural lake that still serves as a habitat for a significant number of wetland birds and so is valuable from the ecological point of view.

The name, Taudaha, comes from a combination of Newari words 'Ta', meaning snake and 'Daha', which means lake.

The Taudaha Lake is believed to be a remnant pool of the huge lake that once existed where now the city of Kathmandu sits. According to mythology, a Buddhist mythical character Manjushree cut the hill in the valley's south, allowing the lake's water to drain off, thereby creating land that was duly occupied by people. Folklore suggests that that "cut" in the hill is the Chobar Gorge, a narrow passage from which the Bagmati River exits the Kathmandu Valley. After the water of the ancient lake drained away, a few small lakes and ponds were created beyond the hills. Taudaha is believed to be one of those ponds.

When the lake was drained, countless nagas, mythological creatures that were half human and half serpent, were left homeless. This made the Naga King Karkotak livid. In order to allay his wrath, the locals living near Taudaha built an underwater palace, studded with precious stones and riches beyond imagination. The Serpent King was pleased and ruled his serpent subjects in their underwater kingdom. The king also promised to protect the humans living around the lake, on the condition that the tranquility of his water abode never be disrupted. It is due to this that even today locals do not swim or fish in the lake.