By Aamir Basharat Qureshi

I return to Manasbal the way people return to a story that refuses to settle.

The lake has followed me through childhood and adulthood, appearing in moments when I least expect it.

I see it first through memory, then through the window of the car as Safapora approaches.

The road winds past small shops and willow groves, until the hills open and the lake comes into view. It lies there with a calm that feels almost deliberate, as if it knows how long people have been watching.

Manasbal is often called the deepest lake in Kashmir. The phrase sounds like a statistic, though once you stand beside it the depth feels emotional.

The lake's surface holds a stillness that feels as if it has been thinking for centuries. Elders traced its name to Manasarovar in the Himalayas, speaking of it with unwavering certainty. They believed that waters carry memory across lands.

I used to listen and wonder how water could remember anything at all. The lake answered that question years later, when I discovered the world that lies beneath its serene surface.

There is a temple resting under the clear water. Ancient stones from the Karkota or Utpala era lie arranged in the same precise style I have seen at Martand and Avantipora.

Divers who have explored it speak of balance, proportion and craftsmanship. They describe pillars holding their place as if time has no authority underwater.

I often imagine the builders working here, unaware that centuries later the lake would rise and fold their creation into its own story.

The thought gives the water a sense of companionship, like it has chosen to guard the temple rather than erase it.

The lake holds another layer through the memory of Kashmiri Pandits.

Many families recall visiting on Jyeshtha Ashtami, carrying flowers, lighting lamps, and touching the springs that feed the water.

I once met a woman who said her father believed the lake reflected inner purity, like they say about Manasarovar. She smiled softly as she told me, as if she still carried a bit of that belief with her.

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