Kailas

Himalayan peak in southwestern Tibet
renowned as a pilgrimage place (tirtha)
for both Hindus and Buddhists. In
Hindu mythology, Kailas is believed to
be Mount Meru, the center of the universe. It is also believed that the top of
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Kailas
Mount Kailas, overlooking the Chiu Monastery in Tibet. Kailas is considered to be the mythic
Mount Meru, home of the god Shiva and the center of the universe.
Mount Kailas is the place where the god
Shiva makes his home. For both Hindus
and Buddhists, the central act of pilgrimage to Kailas is to walk around the
mountain, thus symbolically traversing
the entire earth. The journey begins at
Manasarovar, a lake near the mountain’s base, which in Hindu mythology is
esteemed as the lake of the gods. Many
factors combine to make the sixty-fivemile circuit an extremely difficult journey: The area is extremely remote, the
climate is harsh and unforgiving even in
June (the customary pilgrimage time),
and the circuit itself is physically strenuous, with its highest point over 19,000
feet above sea level. Storms can suddenly
arise at any time of the year, and pilgrims who are unprepared can easily die
of exposure. Given these difficulties, relatively few people perform this pilgrimage; it raises the status of those who do.
For many years Chinese prohibitions on
travel in Tibet made it impossible for
people to undertake this pilgrimage.
Since the early 1990s these rules have
been relaxed and small groups of religious pilgrims are again making the
sacred journey.