The sister lake, Rakshas Tal, is at a height of 4515 m. It
is divided from Manas by a narrow isthmus. Here, in a moment of ecstasy,
Ravana the ruler of Lanka stood on one foot, performed tapasya and
invoked Lord Shiva's blessings. The Tibetans refer to this lake as
Hanag Tso or the demon lake. The waters of this lake are never drunk.
They consider it as inauspicious.
Manasarovar and Rakshas Tal are associated with the sun and the moon,
powerful symbol of tantric Buddhism. The symbol of the sun signifies
the ultimate divine emptiness or power. The noon reflects relative
emptiness. For bodhichitta (enlightened mind) which doesn't differentiate
between one sentient being (person) from the other this signifies
the love and compassion of the highest order. The association of the
Manasarovar with sun and Rakshas Tal with moon represents the shapes
of the respective lakes - Manasarovar being similar to the full orbit
of the sun while Rakshas Tal closely resembles a half moon.
