Lake Manasarovar
Interesting facts
- Tibetan tradition makes the region the source of four mythical rivers named after the lion, the horse, the peacock and the elephant.
- In Buddhist symbolism Mount Kailash is the father of the world and Lake Manasarovar is the mother.
- In the Ramayana the sage Vishvamitra tells Rama that the Sarayu, the river flowing past Ayodhya, was born from this lake.
- Early Hindu texts describe the mythical Lake Manasa as the chosen home of the hamsa, the swan that carries the god Brahma.
- For the Khas people of Nepal's Humla district, a ritual bath in the lake is an essential step for shamans acquiring their powers.
- Bon tradition holds that Tonpa Shenrab, the founder of the religion, bathed in the lake on his first visit to Tibet.
- Jain tradition says that Bharata, son of Rishabhanatha, raised three stupas and 24 shrines to the Tirthankaras in this region.
- The 13th-century Mahanirvana Tantra devotes its opening chapter to Kailash and Manasarovar as places of pilgrimage.
- According to the Tibetan dictionary of Sarat Chandra Das, the 'Mapam' in the lake's Tibetan name means unconquerable or invincible.
- On a clear day the lake can be seen from the Lapcha La pass above the Limi valley in Nepal.
Why it is worth it
At 4,600 metres above sea level, a broad round lake of fresh water lies on the Tibetan Plateau beneath the snow dome of Mount Kailash, with the massif of Gurla Mandhata close by. Lake Manasarovar — Mapam Yumtso in Tibetan — covers about 320 square kilometres, measures some 88 km around and reaches about 100 metres at its deepest, making it one of the highest large freshwater lakes in Asia. Its water spills through a natural channel, the Ganga Chhu, into neighbouring Lake Rakshastal, which is salty and has no outlet. Not far away rise the sources of four great rivers: the Indus, the Sutlej, the Yarlung Tsangpo (the Brahmaputra) and the Karnali.
Few lakes are held sacred by so many faiths at once. The Sanskrit name joins the words for "mind" and "lake": in the Ramayana, Brahma is said to have created it from his own thought. Hindus regard nearby Kailash as the dwelling of Shiva. In Buddhist tradition the mountain is identified with Mount Meru, and the lake is linked with Queen Maya, who is said to have bathed here before the conception of the Buddha; stories of the yogi Milarepa and his contest with a Bon master are also set on its shores. For followers of Bon, the region was the heart of the ancient kingdom of Zhang Zhung, and Jains associate it with Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara.
Tibetan records show the area was already treated as sacred ground by the late 12th century. Pilgrims bathe in the lake and walk the 53 km kora around Kailash — clockwise for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, anticlockwise for Bon followers. Small monasteries, stupas and lines of prayer flags stand along the shore, among them Chiu Gompa; many religious buildings in the region were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of 1966–1976. Pilgrimage from India was interrupted after 1962 and resumed in 1981.
Getting there
The lake lies in Burang County of the Tibet Autonomous Region, close to the point where China, India and Nepal meet. The settlement of Darchen, base for the Kailash circuit, stands just north of the lake, and the county town of Burang lies to the south. Ngari Burang Airport (APJ), opened in December 2023 about 12 km from Burang town, is roughly 40 km from the lake and has flights to Lhasa. Ngari Gunsa Airport (NGQ), serving Shiquanhe, is about 210 km away in a straight line; Shiquanhe is around 330 km from Darchen by road. Darchula, on the far side of the Himalaya in Nepal, is the closest town in a straight line (about 130 km), but the main range and the border lie in between; pilgrim routes from India cross at the Lipulekh Pass, and those from Nepal pass through Humla district.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Lake Manasarovar also called Mapam Yumtso, is a high altitude freshwater lake near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located at an elevation of 4,600 m (15,100 ft), near the western trijunction between China, India and Nepal. It overflows into the adjacent salt-water lake of Rakshastal via the Ganga Chhu. The sources of four rivers: Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, and Karnali lie in the vicinity of the region.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
30.66667, 81.50000per Wikidata