The Enchanted Loom
R.V. Vernède

The subtitle of this book might be 'A Study in Superstition' as may of the Himalayan hill peoples, though nominally Hindus, still live under the influence of the same powerful superstitions and demonology as their ancestors.

The Enchanted Loom is based on the discovery in 1942 of over 300 human skeletal remains on the scree slops above a small, remote and utterly desolate mountain lake at 16,000 feet (5,000 metres) in the central Himalayan District of Garhwal, where the author was Deputy Commissioner 1941-1945.

The local superstition is that anyone who sees the bones will soon die. This, and the forbidding aspect of the site were sufficient to ensure that it was not disturbed for centuries. When, eventually, it was discovered and investigated by experts, it yielded up a fascinating tale.

Although the story of Rajah Jasdoul was never written down, it is preserved in the form of a ballad still sung 600 years later by the women of the village nearest the scene of the disaster.

All the facts discover about this site and also a description of the Nanda Devi Pilgrimage - now discontinued - which once passed closed by Rupkund, are included in an Appendix.

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