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Pilgrimage - The Throne of Shiva Kailash Mansarovar
A journey through the incredible landscape in the
remote western Tibet mountains, the trek to Kailash Mansarovar is an
intense experience. Though geographically located in China, this
holy shrine has been an ancient pilgrimage for the Hindus, the
Buddhists, the Jains and the Tibetan Bonpos. An annual yatra is still
organized for the pilgrims by the Indian and Chinese authorities
jointly.
In a remote corner of
Western Tibet, in one of the highest, loveliest and most desolate
places on earth, rises a sublime snow-clad pyramid of rock, Mt.
Kailash. For over a thousand years pilgrims have made the aruous
journey here to walk around the mountain in an ancient ritual of
devotion, for Kailash is a site of immense natural power. Here the
temporal and the eternal unite and the divine takes physical form.
For the Hindus, Kailash is the throne of Shiva; for Buddhist a
gigantic natural ‘mandala’; for both it is the epicenter of
Tantric forces. In its shadow lies the holy lake of Mansarovar, born
from the mind of Brahma. Even to non-believers, the mountain and
lake are awe-inspiring and mystical – a journey through the
incredible power of nature in the rarefied atmosphere of 15000 feet.
Mt. Kailash, the pyramid
shaped 22028 feet rock is considered the throne of the gods and the
‘Navel of the earth’ by pilgrims of four religions (Hindus,
Buddhists, Jains and Bonpos) who for well over a thousand years, have
journeyed here to pay homage to the mountain’s mystery,
circumbaulating (performing parikrama) of this sacred mountain
in ritual devotion. It is considered the mythical Meru, the great
mountain at the centre of the universe around which the whole
creation revolves. Walking a single circuit of this 32 mile path
about it erases the sins of a lifetime. Their faith proclaims that
not just the mountain’s snow-capped summit but the entire region
is the abode of the gods: a holy land made doubly sacrosanct by the
presence of the nearby Lake Mansarovar, a fifteen mile wide circle of
the deepest blue which is among man’s most ancient holy sites.
The lake and mountain are the crowning jewels of a magical land of
pure light and intense colour.
For each pilgrim Kailash
holds a different religious significance. Hindus, who cross the
frozen mountain passes form India to China to circle the peak believe
it to be Lord Shiva’s throne and bathe in the lake created from
Brahma’s mind (“manas”). Buddhist journey form
Ladakh, Bhuta, Nepal, Mongolia and every corner of Tibet to this
holiest of mountains they call Kang Rinpoche, the precious snow
mountain. The Jain religion considers Kailash as Mount Ashtapada;
Rishabanatha the founder, attained spiritual liberation atop this
summit. And to the Bonpo, followers of Tibet’s old pre-Buddhist
beliefs, it is the ‘Nine-storey Swastika Mountain’ the
mystic ‘soul’ of the entire region. All the four religions
hold different beliefs, each sees different gods but the underlying
reality is the same. However, the journey to it is made in the
spiritual as well as the earthy realm.
Kailash rises in the
Nagri region of Western Tibet, one of the highest, loveliest and most
desolate places on the planet where except, for a few small bands of
nomadic herders, the empty plains are crossed only by the wind. The
land is a barren wasteland devoid of any vegetation. Naked hills of
rose, violet and flaming orange ripple off into the distance. Over
this immensity arches the Tibetan sky a vision from a fairy tale.
The blue of the sky is so deep and clear, all else is pale in
contrast. Confronted with such space and silence man feels
superfluous, out of place. The land dominates him and not the other
way around, and you can feel the presence of larger invisible forces.
To the Hindus their
connection with Mansarovar stretches back two millennia. The
Ramayana says: ‘There is no mountain like Himachal (Himalayas)
for in it are Kailash and Mansarovar. As the dew is dried up by the
morning sun, so are the sins of mankind by the sight of Himachal.’
Kailash and Mansarovar remained unknown to the western world until
the 18th century. The first European to pass through this
region was an Italian Jesuit missionary, Father Ippolito Desideri.
In 1907 it was discovered and believed that this region was the
source of four rivers the Indus, the Sultej, the Brahmaputra and the
Karnali. Hindus believe that the sacred River Ganga falls from
heaven and divides into the above four rivers which water the four
quarters of the earth. The unquestioned expert on Kailash and
Mansarovar was the energetic Swami Pranavanand, who between 1928 and
1949 made 25 circuits of the mountain and 23 of the lake and wrote a
pilgrim guidebook crammed with a mixture of scientific and spiritual
observations.
The pilgrims’ trail
continued unbroken for over a thousand years until the Chinese army
entered Tibet and the Sino-Indian border clashes in 1959 sealed off
all the routes for a few years. Now the situation has changed again.
The Tibetans are allowed a degree of religious freedom, and pilgrims
are returning to Kailash and Mansarovar in increasing numbers. Under
the 1981 agreement between China and India around 200 Hindu pilgrims
are allowed to visit every year. Monasteries which had been
destroyed have been rebuilt and prayer flags and monuments once again
line the parikrama paths.
In order to undertake the
yatra to this place form India, one has to go through the
Ministry of External Affairs which receives a flood of applications
every year. A few are selected on the basis of a draw. If you are
among the chosen few, (as only around 200 are selected every year
form among thousands who apply), your ultimate departure for the
yatra depends upon your being found medically fit to undertake the
arduous trip in which trekking t almost 20000 feet is involved. For
this purpose your whole physical system is put through a grueling
test at a public hospital in Delhi for two days. Once the green
signal is given you have to undergo the visa and foreign exchange
formalities. Pilgrims are allowed to take US $ 500 for the yatra
of which $ 400 are given to the Chinese authorities to cover expenses
of accommodation, transportation, coolies, etc., for the duration of
the trek – which lasts for 15 days.
The duration of the
entire trip is 32 days form Delhi and back of which only the first 2
days and the last 2 days are by bus. The entire trip is under the
guidance of the Ministry of External Affairs and Kumaon Vikas Mandal
Nigam (KMVN, a unit of U.P. Tourism, responsible for the pilgrimage
on the Indian side). Swami Radhakrishnan of the Kailash-Mansarovar
Ashram at Palam near Delhi even offers free rations and cooking and
eating utensils that would be required while on parikarma as no food
is available for almost 12 days on the Tibetan side.
The first halt is at
Kasauni near Nainital, which is famous for its sunrise beauty, and
the next at Dharchula. The trek starts from Tawaghat (17 kilometres
from here). One can even engage ponies but most of the yatris opt for
trekking. Pilgrims visit the Kailash-Mansarovar in batches of 25
headed by a liaison officer, an appointee of the Ministry of External
Affairs. Before the commencement of the actual trek at Dharchula
another medical fitness test is conducted and those found unfit are
returned to Delhi. This is just the beginning of the medical test
ordeal which is a part of the daily rituals for the next 12 days upto
the last camp on the Indian side. Some rejections take place even at
the last camp.
Finally at Lipulek Pass
the “crossing” is made. The time and the date of the
crossing is so pre-determined that both the outgoing and the incoming
batches meet here and exchange views and information. On the
Tibetan side, after descending the pass area, there is no further
trekking involved as there are sufficient ponies to take you down to
the awaiting bus for Talakot which is about 50 kilometres from
Lipulek Pass. Taklakot is a border town where the yatris are put up
at the state-run hotel. The hotel comfortable. The customs and
baggage check formalities are done here prior to the allotment of the
rooms.
After a day’s rest
the entire batch is taken by bus to the Kailash and Mansarovar camps.
The group is divided into two. The Mansarovar camps. The group is
divided into two. The Mansarovar batch gets dropped off first at
Hore from where they commence their parikrama. The second batch for
Kailash is dropped off at Tarchen . The parikrama is done either on
foot, horses or yaks. A single circuit of Kailash is said to erase
the sins of an age, while 108, a holy number, ensures Nirvana. In
Tarchen substitutes can be hired to perform the arduous journey for
the indolent or ill. The religious merit is shared between the
sponsor and the who actually walks the path. Kailash and Mansarovar
Lake is a shifting fluid mirror meant for contemplation. As one
approaches from Taklakot to the right lies the turquoise disc of
Mansarovar while on the left is the equally beautiful Rakshas Tal.
Legend holds that Rakshas Tal was poisoned and therefore nobody even
sips its water. Originally the two lakes were one, until an island
in the middle grew into a dividing strip of land. Ahead on the
northern horizon shines the ice dome of Kailash. Mansarovar is 15
miles wide and 55 miles in circumference. Its colours and moods
shift as swiftly as the flickering light of an opal. Its waters are
said to possess miraculous healing properties.
Both the groups complete
their respective parikramas in about 2-3 days and return to their
camps. The bus again comes after four days and interchanges the two
groups in order that each group gets a chance to perform both the
parikarmas, Again after four days the bus comes, and collects both
the groups and brings the entire batch back to the base at Taklakoit.
After a day’s rest the return journey commences. And when you
are finally home the yearning for another trip begins.
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