Bara-lacha la
mountain pass in Himachal Pradesh, India
Bara-lacha la also known as Bara-lacha Pass, or Bārā Lācha La, (el. 16,040 ft or 4,889 m) is a high mountain pass in the Zanskar range of Northern-India, connecting Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh to Leh district in Ladakh. Rail-cum-road tunnels are being constructed under the Bara-lacha la, at 16,040 feet (4,890 m) high Lungalacha La (84 km north of Bara-lacha la) and 5,184 metres (17,008 ft) high Taglang La (171 km north of Bara-lacha la) to cater to the traffic on the existing NH3 Leh–Manali Highway and the under-construction Bhanupli–Leh line.
The two headwaters of the Chenab River, Chandra and Bhaga, originate near the Baralacha Pass. The Bhaga river originates from Surya taal lake, which is situated a few of kilometres from the pass towards Manali. The Chandra originates from a glacier in this region. The native name of Chenab, "Chandrabhaga", represents the union of Chandra and Bhaga rivers downstream.
The pass also acts as a water-divide between the Bhaga river and the Yunam river.
Legend
Folklore states that the two divine lovers, Chandramukhi, daughter of the Moon god, and Surya Bhaga, the son of the Sun god, decided to perform their eternal marriage atop the Bara-lacha-la. From there they ran in opposite directions.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Bara-lacha la” as mountain pass in Himachal Pradesh, India. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as mountain pass in Himachal Pradesh, India. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q807246. Authority coordinates are 32.757, 77.414. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bara-lacha la” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.