Mai Pokhari

Mai Pokhari is a small, forest-ringed sacred lake at about 2,100 m in the hills of Ilam, roughly 15 km north of the district town and the famous tea gardens of eastern Nepal. The emerald lake is modest in size — its shoreline runs about a kilometre around — but it sits within a Ramsar-protected wetland of about 90 ha of old-growth mid-hill forest, designated a Wetland of International Importance on 20 October 2008.

The lake is traditionally described as nine-cornered and is revered as the abode of the goddess (Mai), a Hindu pilgrimage site whose temple and annual fair draw worshippers from across the eastern hills. That religious status has helped protect the surrounding forest for generations.

Its real distinction is biological. The wetland and its forest of Schima, Castanopsis, laurel and oak hold a rich flora of epiphytic orchids, rhododendrons, water lilies and medicinal herbs, and the area has recorded some 300 bird species along with mammals such as the leopard cat and the Eurasian otter — an unusually intact pocket of mid-hill biodiversity. A small botanical garden with an orchid house, rock garden and greenhouse sits on the wetland's edge.

Easily reached by road from Ilam bazaar, Mai Pokhari makes a popular short outing for visitors to the tea country, combining a quiet pilgrimage lake with rare forest and birdwatching.