Kailash Range

Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ; ; sa, कैलास, ), is a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has an altitude of . It lies in the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains) of the Transhimalaya, in the western part of the Tibetan Plateau. Mount Kailash is less than 100 km towards the north from the western trijunction of the borders of China, India, and Nepal.

Mount Kailash is located close to Lake Manasarovar and Lake Rakshastal. The sources of four major Asian rivers lie close to this mountain and the two lakes. These rivers are the Indus, the Sutlej, the Brahmaputra, and the Karnali (a tributary of the Ganges). Mount Kailash is considered sacred in four religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon.

Etymology

The mountain is known as “'” (; var. ' ) in Sanskrit. The name also could have been derived from the word “'” (), which means "crystal".

In his Tibetan-English dictionary, Chandra (1902: p. 32) identifies the entry for 'kai la sha' () which is a loan word from Sanskrit.

The Tibetan name for the mountain is Gang Rinpoche (Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་; ). ''Gang'' or ''Kang'' is the Tibetan word for ''snow peak'' analogous to ''alp'' or ''hima''; ''rinpoche'' is an honorific meaning "precious one" so the combined term can be translated "precious jewel of snows". Alice Albinia lists some of the names for the mountain, and its religious significance to various faiths:

Another local name for the mountain is Tisé mountain, which derives from ''ti tse'' in the Zhang-Zhung language, meaning "water peak" or "river peak", connoting the mountain's status as the source of the mythical Lion, Horse, Peacock and Elephant Rivers, and in fact the Indus, Yarlung Tsangpo/Dihang/Brahmaputra, Karnali and Sutlej all begin in the Kailash-Lake Manasarovara region.

Geology

The region around Mount Kailash and the Indus headwaters area is typified by wide-scale faulting of metamorphosed late Cretaceous to mid Cenozoic sedimentary rocks which have been intruded by igneous Cenozoic granitic rocks. Mount Kailash appears to be a metasedimentary roof pendant supported by a massive granite base. The Cenozoic rocks represent offshore marine limestones deposited before subduction of the Tethys oceanic crust. These sediments were deposited on the southern margin of the Asia block during subduction of the Tethys oceanic crust before the collision between the Indian and Asian continents.

Religious significance

In Hinduism

In Hinduism, it is traditionally recognized as the abode of Shiva, who resided there along with his consort goddess Parvati and their children, Ganesha and Kartikeya.

In the ''Uttara Kanda'' section of the epic ''Ramayana'', it is said that Ravana attempted to uproot the Mount Kailash as retaliation to lord Shiva, who in turn, pressed his right big toe upon the mountain, trapping Ravana in between. This version of lord Shiva is also referred to as Ravananugraha, or favour form to Ravana while seated in mount Kailash.

According to the epic ''Mahabharata'', it is said that the Pandava brothers, along with their wife Draupadi, trekked to the summit of mount Kailash on their path to liberation, as it is considered to be a gateway to Heaven, also known as Swarga Loka.

According to Charles Allen, one description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli. It is a pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges symbolizing a lotus. Allen, Charles. (1982). ''A Mountain in Tibet'', pp. 21–22. André Deutsch. Reprint: 1991. Futura Publications, London. .

In Jainism

According to Jain scriptures, ''Ashtapada'' is the site where the first Jain Tirthankara, Rishabhadeva attained moksha (liberation). In Jain tradition, it is believed that after Rishabhdeva attained nirvana, his son emperor Bharata Chakravartin had constructed three stupas and twenty four shrines of the 24 tirthankaras over there with their idols studded with precious stones and named it ''Sinhnishdha''.

'' Nirvan Kand Bhasha'' also mentions of ''Ashtapada.''

(दोहा)

वीतराग वन्दौं सदा, भाव सहित सिर नाय ,

कहूं काण्ड निर्वाण की, भाषा सुगम बनाये , ,

(चौपाई)

अष्टापद आदीश्वर स्वामि, वासुपूज्य चम्पापुरि नामि ,

नेमिनाथ स्वामी गिरनार, वन्दौं भाव भगति उर धार , , 1, ,

चरम तीर्थकर चरम शरीर, पावापुरि स्वामि महावीर ,

शिखर समेद जिनेसुर बीस, भावसहित वन्दौं निश दीस , , 2, ,

In Jain tradition, the 24th and last Tirthankara, Vardhamana Mahavira, was taken to the summit of Meru by Indra shortly after his birth, after putting his mother Queen Trishala into deep slumber. There he was bathed and anointed with precious unctions.

In Buddhism

Mount Kailash (Kailasa) is known as Mount Meru in Buddhist texts. It is central to its cosmology, and a major pilgrimage site for some Buddhist traditions.

Vajrayana Buddhists believe that Mount Kailash is the home of the buddha Cakrasaṃvara (also known as Demchok), who represents supreme bliss.

Numerous sites in the region are associated with Padmasambhava, whose tantric practices in holy sites around Tibet are credited with finally establishing Buddhism as the main religion of the country in the 7th–8th century CE.

It is said that Milarepa (c. 1052 – c. 1135), champion of Vajrayana, arrived in Tibet to challenge Naro Bönchung, champion of the Bön religion of Tibet. The two magicians engaged in a terrifying sorcerers' battle, but neither was able to gain a decisive advantage. Finally, it was agreed that whoever could reach the summit of Kailash most rapidly would be the victor. While Naro Bönchung sat on magic drum and soared up the slope, Milarepa's followers were dumbfounded to see him sitting still and meditating. Yet when Naro Bönchung was nearly at the top, Milarepa suddenly moved into action and overtook him by riding on sunlight, thus winning the contest. He did, however, fling a handful of snow on to the top of a nearby mountain, since known as Bönri, bequeathing it to the Bönpo and thereby ensuring continued Bönpo connections with the region.

In Bön

Bön, a religion native to Tibet, maintains that the entire mystical region and Kailash, which adherents call the "nine-story Swastika Mountain", is the axis mundi, Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring.

Pilgrimage

The history of the Kailash-Manasarovar pilgrimage

The history of the Mt Kailash pilgrimage is closely tied with the history of the pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar. For this history, see the section 'History and texts' on the Lake Manasarovar page.

The Kailash parikrama, or kora

The Sanskrit word for circumambulation of a holy site is 'Parikrama', and the Tibetan word for the same act is
kora'
Both words are widely used to describe the act of circumambulating Mt Kailash. Pilgrims of several religions believe that doing the parikrama/kora of Mount Kailash on foot is a spiritually beneficial practice that can bring various positive effects, such as the collection of meritorious karma, the cleansing of sins from one's consciousness, and good fortune. The circumambulation is made in a clockwise direction by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains, while Bönpos circumambulate the mountain in a counterclockwise direction.

In Tibet, the Kailash parikrama/kora begins and ends at Darchen, at an elevation of , a small outpost that swells with pilgrims at certain times of the year. The path around Mount Kailash is long. Walking around the mountain has to be done on foot, pony or domestic yak, and takes some three days of trekking. The highest point on the pilgrimage is the Drölma pass at 5,650m (18,540 feet). One camps on two nights en route: firstlly, near the meadow of Dirapuk gompa, some before the pass, and secondly, after crossing the pass and going as far downhill as possible (while passing by Gauri Kund lake less than a hundred meters below the Drolma La pass). The second night halt is often at Zutulphuk.

Most pilgrims take three days to complete the pilgrimage. Some pilgrims, usually Tibetans or Nepali people from high altitude regions, do it in a single day. Some other pilgrims venture a very demanding regimen, performing body-length prostrations over the entire length of the circumambulation. The pilgrim bends down, kneels, prostrates full-length, makes a mark with her fingers, rises to her knees, prays, and then crawls forward on hands and knees to the mark made by her fingers before repeating the process. With this method, the pilgrimage takes at least three weeks to complete.

The mountain is located in a particularly remote and inhospitable area of the Tibetan Himalayas. A few modern amenities, su