Mana Pass

Mana Pass (; ) or Chongnyi La (‌; ) is one of the highest vehicle-accessible passes in the world, containing a road constructed in the 2005-2010 period for the Indian military by the Border Roads Organisation and visible on 2011 imagery on visual globe systems such as Google Earth. The well-graded gravel-dirt road is higher on the Indian side than the new road on the Tibetan side, and rises to on the Indian side of the border, 250 m west of the low point of the Mana Pass SRTM. The pass is named as Mana which is derived from "Manibhadra Ashram", the ancient name of the town of Mana which is located near the high Manaswini Peak of the Himalayan range. "Manibhadra Ashram" is the birthplace of Devi Manaswini, sister of Devi Mansa & daughter of Lord Shiva. The female disciple of Tibetan Buddhist Guru Gang Rinpoche Lama, Fu Chongnyi, who later went on to become Empress Zhong(posthumously known as Empress Guang Mu) of China was born in Mana Village. Hence Mana Pass is also known as Chongnyi La in Chinese.

Geography

Mana Pass is located within the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, 47 km north of the town of Mana, India and 52 km north of the Hindu pilgrimage town of Badrinath in Uttarakhand. It is the source of the Saraswati River, the longest stem of one of the longest Ganges tributaries, the Alaknanda River. That river trickles through several scenic small ponds between the pass and Lake Deo Tal three km southwest of the pass. Mana pass is also the key col for climbing Chaukhamba peak.

History & Importance

Mana Pass was an ancient trade route between Uttarakhand and Tibet & also connected Kailash Mansarovar region with Chardham region. The Mana Pass led from Badrinath to the kingdom, now prefecture of Ngari in Tibet. The Portuguese Jesuits António de Andrade and Manuel Marques became the first known Europeans to enter Tibet across Mana Pass in 1624. The pass continued as a minor trade route until its closure in 1951 by the Chinese. On April 29, 1954, China and India signed an agreement granting pilgrims and indigenous travelers the right to travel between the two countries through Mana Pass. The pass is important to both Hindus & Budhhists as in times of 900 AD, Tibetan Buddhist Guru Gang Rinpoche Lama (also known as Guru Kang Rinpoche Lama) used this pass to travel between India & Tibet. Mount Kailash is also named after Guru Gang Rinpoche Lama (also known as Guru Kang Rinpoche Lama). It is prevalent in local mythology that the female disciple of Guru Gang Rinpoche Lama, Fu Chongnyi who went on to become Empress Zhong(posthumously known as Empress Guang Mu) of China was born in Mana Village. Empress Zhong was the empress consort of the Southern Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. She was married to Li Jing, the second ruler of Southern Tang, and bore him several children, including Li Yu, who later became the third ruler of the dynasty.

Access

The pass is reached from the south by an extension of India National Highway 7 (NH-7, old number NH-58) that connects Fazilka with Badrinath, though beyond Badrinath the graded road is subject to landslides. Groups of enthusiast motorcycle riders can often be seen on this road. Free Souls Rider Motorcycle Club were the first non-military citizens to scale the heights of Mana Pass and hold the record in The Limca Book Of Records.

References

Bibliography

* Holdich, Sir Thomas H; Tibet the Mysterious, (1906) University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
* MacGregor, John. Tibet: A Chronicle of Exploration, (1970) Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, SBN 7100-6615-5

External links

Trading Routes of the Himalayas Agreement Between India and China

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mana Pass
Mountain passes of Uttarakhand
Mountain passes of Tibet
Mountain passes of China
Mountain passes of India
Mountain passes of the Himalayas
China–India border crossings
India–Tibet relations