Chandratal, located in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, is a 2.5-km wide fresh water lake. At a height of around 14,100 feet above sea level, the lake is surrounded by scree, and brown mountains, which in the winter season turn white. The huge cirque here offers a magnificent view of the lake and far off snow-clad peaks of the Himalayan Mountain Range. As its shape is more like a crescent, hence called “Chandra” while the word “Tal” stands for a lake. The anglicised version of this Himalayan splendor is Moon Lake. Chandratal is the origin point and source of river Chandra, which flows for an extensive distance along the road from Batal to Gramphoo and then the Manali-Leh highway in southeastern direction before turning completely and taking a southwestern course after merging with Bhaga River at Tandi. Interesting thing about this lake is that there is absolutely no visible source of water to this lake but there is a visible outlet which means that water to this lake comes from underground which is highly unusual. Its source is the glacier at Baralacha Pass but how the water travels from the glacier to the lake is a mystery in itself.
