Yamdrok Lake is one of the three largest sacred lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

s in Tibet

Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....

 (28°56′N 90°41′E). It is over 72 km (44.7 mi) long. The lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and is fed by numerous small streams. The lake does have an outlet stream at its far western end.

Around 90 km to the west of the lake lies the Tibetan town of Gyantse

Gyantse

Gyantse is a town located in Gyangzê County, Shigatse Prefecture. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in the Tibet region , but there are now at least ten larger Tibetan cities.-Location:The town is strategically located in the Nyang River Valley on the ancient...

 and Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

 is a hundred km to the northeast. According to local mythology

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

, Yamdok Yumtso lake is the transformation of a goddess.

Yamdrok Lake, also known as Yamḍok Yumtso, has a power station

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

 that was completed and dedicated in 1996 near the small village of Pai-Ti

Pai-Ti (village)

Pai-Ti is a small village located at the western end of Yamdrok Lake, in the Lhoka Prefecture. Near the village, the largest power station in Tibet was completed and dedicated in 1996.-Notes:...

 at the lake’s western end. This power station is the largest in Tibet.

Physical data

The lake (638 km² in area, of depth unknown) is fan-shaped, spreading to the south but narrowing up to the north. The mountainous lakeshore is highly crenellated, with numerous bays and inlets. Lake Yamdrok freezes in winter.
Like mountains, lakes are considered sacred by Tibetan people, the principle being that they are the dwelling places of protective deities and therefore invested with special spiritual powers. Yamdrok Lake is one of four particularly holy lakes, thought to be divinatory; everyone from the Dalai Lama to local villagers makes pilgrimages there. The others such lakes are Lhamo La-tso

Lhamo La-tso

Lhamo La-tso or Lhamo Latso , the small oval 'Oracle Lake', is where senior Tibetan monks go for visions to assist in the discovery of reincarnations of the Dalai Lamas. Other pilgrims also come to seek visions...

, Namtso

Namtso

Namtso or Lake Nam is a mountain lake on the border between Damxung County of Lhasa Prefecture and Baingoin County of Nagqu Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, approximately NNW of Lhasa....

 and Manasarovar. The lake is revered as a talisman and is said to be part of the life-spirit of the Tibetan nation. The largest lake in southern Tibet, it is said that if its waters dry, Tibet will no longer be habitable. The lake is home to the famous Samding Monastery

Samding Monastery

Samding Monastery, Samten Ling, or Samding Goinba Samding, a Geluk Ani gompa - which also housed some monks - was built on a hill on a peninsula jutting into the sacred lake, Yar-'brog or Yamdrok Tso, about east of Nangkatse, and some southwest of Lhasa, at an altitude of 4,423 m or...

 which is on a peninsula jutting into the lake. This monastery is the only Tibetan monastery to be headed by a female re-incarnation. Since it is not a nunnery, its female abbot heads a community of about thirty monks and nuns. Samding Monastery is where Dorje Pakmo, the only female Lama

Lama

Lama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...

 in Tibet, stayed and presided, and stands to the south of Lake Yamdrok Yumtso.

Today, both pilgrims and tourists can be seen walking along the lake's perimeter. One of the lake's islands contains an old fort or castle called Pede Dzong.

Exploitation

There are shoals of fish living in Yamdok Yumtso lake, which are commercially exploited by local population. From April to October, fish caught from this lake are sold at markets in Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

, the provincial capital.

Additionally, the lake's islands serve as rich pasture land to local herdmen.