Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
here: the Karnali, which feeds into the Ganges (south); Indus (north); Sutlej (west); and
Brahmaputra (Yarlung Tsangpo, east).
Mt Kailash, at 6714m, is not the mightiest of the mountains in the region, but with its
distinctive shape - like the handle of a millstone, according to Tibetans - and its year-
round snowcapped peak, it stands apart from the pack. Its four sheer walls match the car-
dinal points of the compass, and its southern face is famously marked by a long vertical
cleft punctuated halfway down by a horizontal line of rock strata. This scarring resembles
a swastika - a Buddhist symbol of spiritual strength - and is a feature that has contributed
to Mt Kailash's mythical status. Mt Kailash is actually not part of the Himalaya but rather
the Kangri Tise (Gangdise) Range.
Mt Kailash has long been an object of worship. For Hindus, it is the domain of Shiva,
the Destroyer and Transformer, and his consort Parvati. To the Buddhist faithful, Mt
Kailash is the abode of Demchok (Sanskrit: Samvara) and Dorje Phagmo. The Jains of In-
dia also revere the mountain as the site where the first of their
tirthankara
(saints) entered
Nirvana. And in the ancient Bön religion of Tibet, Mt Kailash was the sacred Yungdrung
Gutseg (Nine-Stacked-Swastika Mountain) upon which the Bönpo founder Shenrab
alighted from heaven.
Numerous Western explorers wanted to summit the mountain in the early 20th century
but oddly ran out of time on each occasion. Reinhold Messner gained permission to scale
the peak in the 1980s, but abandoned his expedition in deference to the peak's sanctity
when he got to the mountain. In May 2001 Spanish climbers reportedly also gained per-
mission to climb the peak, only to abandon their attempt in the face of international
protests. Since then the Chinese government has maintained that the mountain is off limits
to climbers.
