Gosaikunda Camp

This August, like every year, a big fare will be observed in Gosaikunda during the janaipurnima festival. Hindus and Buddhists alike will swarm the place to celebrate the festival. There will be overnight dancing and worshipping. The whole place will hum with the chants and prayers of the pilgrims.

A big problem there will be altitude sickness. People from nearby villages generally escape but those from Kathmandu valley and far away villages generally get sick. And this is not a trivial problem as a lot of indigenous Newars from Kathmandu visit the place (they call the pilgrimage-Silu). The geography of the place is such that it permits people to take heights in a single day and no wonder the incidence of acute mountain sickness (AMS) is high up in the lake.

The other complication is the religious fervor of the pilgrims which poses a big challenge to those trying to persuade them to go down without taking the holy dip.

MMSN team will be dispatched to the place through HRA. Two medical doctors and one medical student will go to the place with experienced HRA staffs. It will be around 8 days till they return. They will also be continuing the study on ‘the incidence of AMS in children less then 15 years old' from last year.

MMSN members who would like to go by themselves and get the exposure in high altitude medicine are most welcome. Please contact Dr. Ramesh Subedi for further details.