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| Mount Kailash |
An Arabic
saying goes - Muhammad (the Prophet) does not go to the mountain. The mountain
goes to Muhammad.
In
a weirdly similar way, one does not go to Mt Kailash. It calls you. Standing
at a majestic 6,638 meters above sea level on the western-most fringe of the
Tibetean plateau, this is one mountain with no comparison in the entire
Himalayan range starting from the steamy forests of Burma in the east to the
dry, freezing heights of the Karakoram Ranges in Central Asia. It is almost as
though a great force (not certainly human!) thought of building a near-perfect
pyramid on top of a plateau! This fact has been validated by Russian Geologists
who opine that given its dimensions, someone has actually made a pyramid-shaped
mountain! Beat it!! And that too with sides perfectly aligned to the four
corners of the earth! Wow! And
to top it all, it is also called “Svayambhu” ie that which has developed on
its own! Food for thoughts?
At first
sight what seems most conspicuous is that this mountain stands not in the usual
setting of snow and ice all around but on a rugged, dry moon-like surfaced
plateau making its presence even more formidable. On a clear full moon night,
the sight of a single peak in white against a backdrop of darkness makes it
look ethereal. A perfect setting then for the abode of “Rudra” the Angry though
Benevolent One! It evokes near-similar sentiments in parts amongst the Buddhists,
Jains and local communities here.
People
who visit Mt Kailash can broadly be segregated into die-hard ie pilgrims or
rock-hard ie the adventure seekers. If reports are to be believed, the Chinese
Government intends to add another category shortly. The softies ie couch
potatoes! They intend to open this hitherto secluded sector to tourists and
exploit it to the extent possible. Imagine the plight of die-hard pilgrims
mingling with camera totting, cola-sipping, pot-bellied tourists! For the
pilgrim, grim indeed. Hope the project takes a loooong time to fructify. Let
the sanctity of the place remain. To only a few, the idea permeates that it is
not only the place but the journey that makes it what it is. From time
immemorial, people have been visiting this sacred, awe-inspiring place and gone
back with insights branded into their subconscious.
Most
pilgrims come with long-standing issues which seems unsolvable by earthly
means. At this juncture, the gods are expected step in. It is said that the
presiding deity “Shankara” or “Shiva” converses with his pilgrims by means of
insights and visions which end-up remaining in one’s conscience for all times
to come. The lessons learnt over the course of the arduous journey and the
sights here seem to bring new insights for most pilgrims with relation to life
and its challenges.
Most
pilgrims tend to circumambulate (called kora) around the base of the mountain
which is a distance of 32 miles. Mind it, this is no walk-to-the-mall stuff
with a mountain pass en-route going upto 18000 feet!! Local Tibetians are said
to be able to complete this in under a day but for most outsiders given the
prevailing weather conditions, it takes upto 2-3 days.
Well,
after reading this if you feel breathless, try going to the park next door and
building some stamina. Who know, the sights of Mt Kailash just might take your
breath away!
Sources :-
1) Wikipedia
2) Yowangdu
3) VedicEmpire
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Please feel free to post your comments below.
About Author :- Amit Kulkarni is the founder of Raghukul Holidays.
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