Rare 4-horned lamb found in Chamoli, may lead next yr's Nanda Devi yatra

Time of India

17-07-2025

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Dehradun: A five-month-old male lamb with four fully formed horns has been found in the hill village of Koti near Karnaprayag in Uttarakhand's
Chamoli
district — sparking both religious anticipation and scientific inquiry.
The lamb, born to a local herder's flock, is being hailed by residents as the possible Chausingha Khadu, the sacred four-horned ram destined to lead the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra in 2026 — a 280km, 19-day pilgrimage held once every 12 years.
The yatra, among the most spiritually resonant traditions in the central Himalayas, traces the mythical journey of goddess Nanda Devi from her paternal home in the hills to her consort Shiva's abode in Mount Kailash.
Traditionally, the procession begins in Nauti village and passes through alpine meadows, glacial paths, and remote settlements before culminating at Roopkund and Homkund — high-altitude lakes wrapped in legend.
At the forefront of this procession is the ram — not merely an animal, but a divine emissary. This year's discovery was unexpected. Harish Lal, a goat herder for two decades, noticed something unusual about one of his newborn lambs a few weeks after its birth.
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Its horns had split into two distinct pairs. "We've raised livestock for years," said his son, Gaurav. "This has never happened. It's a matter of luck if the committee chooses him.
"
The family offered the lamb — free of cost — to the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Samiti, the organising committee. Gautam Mingwal, a local social worker and former village head, was the first to pass the news to the committee. He described the discovery not as a miracle, but as a deeply meaningful return of a cultural symbol.
"A four-horned Khadu doesn't appear often," he said. "When it does, it means something."
Rakesh Kunwar, president of the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Committee, confirmed the offer but noted that the final decision would follow scripture and ritual. "Only the Maudvi rite has been completed so far. The full programme and the selection of the Chousingha Khadu will be announced on Basant Panchami," he said. The Maudvi rite is a traditional purification and invocation ceremony performed in Nauti village to formally begin preparations for the yatra.
It involves worship of goddess Nanda Devi and the ritual declaration of the yatra's intent and schedule.
The lamb's four horns are likely the result of a rare polycerate mutation. "It's an extremely uncommon occurrence," said S K Gupta, senior scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India. "Placental samples from this Khadu and its parents could offer meaningful insights, especially if these anomalies are geographically localised to the central Himalayan belt."
Professor B N Shahi, from the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at GB Pant University, added that this particular breed is found only in Uttarakhand and is currently under phenotypic study. "There is a scientific story unfolding here alongside the spiritual one," he said.
The Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra is sometimes called the Himalayan Kumbh, not because of its scale alone, but because of the generational memory it carries. As legend has it, when Nanda Devi leaves her paternal home, the skies weep in her honour — the pilgrimage begins with torrential rain. For now, the lamb remains in Koti, tethered in a stone-walled shed, unaware of its possible fate.