Mount Kailash
Interesting facts
- In Tibetan the mountain is called Gang Rinpoche, roughly the precious jewel of snows, while its Sanskrit name may come from a word meaning crystal.
- In 1926 the British official Hugh Ruttledge walked around Kailash and judged it utterly unclimbable; his companion's attempt on the southeast ridge was stopped by heavy snow.
- Asked in 1936 by the climber Herbert Tichy whether Kailash could be climbed, a local official said only a sinless man could, by turning into a bird.
- In 2001 Chinese authorities refused a Spanish expedition's request to climb the peak and declared all climbing on the mountain strictly prohibited.
- According to Hindu legend, the demon-king Ravana tried to shake the mountain and was pinned beneath it by Shiva's toe, singing hymns for a thousand years before release.
- Tibetan tradition describes Kailash as the source of four mythical rivers, the Lion, Horse, Peacock and Elephant, flowing out in the four cardinal directions.
- In Buddhist symbolism Kailash represents the father of the world and the lake Manasarovar at its foot represents the mother.
- For followers of the Bön religion, the peak is the dwelling place of the sky goddess Sipaimen.
- Geologically, the summit is a thick mass of conglomerate rock sitting on a base of granite.
Why it is worth it
Mount Kailash is a mountain that nobody climbs. The 6,638-metre peak in the Gangdise range of western Tibet is sacred to four religions, and the Chinese authorities forbid any ascent; there is no recorded successful climb. Reinhold Messner, offered the chance in the mid-1980s, reportedly turned it down. What people come for instead is the kora, a pilgrimage walk around its base, and the chance to see the mountain from every side.
For Hindus it is the home of Shiva and Parvati; for Buddhists it is identified with Mount Meru, the axis of the world; Jains hold that Rishabhadeva, their first tirthankara, attained liberation here; and in the Bön tradition it was the centre of the ancient kingdom of Zhang Zhung. Tibetan legend tells of the yogi Milarepa winning a race to the summit against a Bön master by riding the rays of the sun. The landscape carries weight of its own: the sources of the Indus, the Sutlej, the Brahmaputra and a major tributary of the Ganges all rise within about 60 km of the mountain, and the lakes Manasarovar and Rakshastal lie at its foot. Manasarovar, a place of ritual bathing for Hindu pilgrims, is regarded as the highest large freshwater lake in the world.
The circuit is 53 km long and usually takes three days. It begins and ends at Darchen, at about 4,670 metres, and crosses the Drölma La pass at around 5,650 metres, with the first day's walk of about 14 km ending at the monastery of Dirapuk and the second, of about 19 km, crossing the pass. Hindus, Buddhists and Jains walk clockwise; followers of Bön go the other way. Some Tibetan pilgrims complete the whole route in full-body prostrations, which takes about three weeks. Along the way are stupas, flagpoles, monasteries and places of prayer; many of the older cultural artefacts on the route were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Facilities are basic, the altitude is serious and weather can turn quickly; acclimatisation beforehand is essential.
The pilgrimage season from India runs roughly from June to September.
Getting there
Kailash is in a remote corner of Tibet near the borders of India and Nepal; there is no town of any size nearby. The base is the village of Darchen. The nearest airport is Ngari Gunsa (NGQ), about 165 km away, with limited flights to Lhasa and Chengdu; from Shiquanhe, the town it serves, Darchen is a full day's drive of about 330 km. Foreign visitors need a Tibet Travel Permit, which can only be obtained through a Tibet-based agency as part of a guided tour with private transport; permits are also checked in Darchen before the kora. Indian pilgrims travel on a government-organised yatra via the Lipulekh or Nathu La passes, and many pilgrims from Nepal go through the Humla district.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Mount Kailash is a mountain in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies in the Gangdise Shan mountain range of the Transhimalaya, in the western part of the Tibetan Plateau. The peak of Mount Kailash is located at an elevation of 6,638 m (21,778 ft), near the western trijunction of China, India, and Nepal.
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