Mount Kailash Trekking

Mount Kailash The mountain is known as Kailash which means crystal. The Tibetan name for the mountain is Gang Rinpoche Tibetan word for snow peak. Precious Snow Mountain’. Bon Nine Stacked Swastika Mountain. For Hindus, it is the home of the mountain god Shiva and a symbol of his power-symbol OM, for Jains it is where their first Tirthankara Rishabhanatha was enlightened, for Buddhists,

Another local name for the mountain is Tisé mountain, which derives from ti tse in the ShangShung language, meaning water peak or river peak, connoting the mountain’s status as the source of the mythical Lion, Horse, Peacock and Elephant Rivers, and in fact the Indus, Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, Karnali and Sutlej all begin in the Kailash-Lake Manasarovara region. According to Hinduism, Shiva, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife parvati . he is also the divine master of Tantra. In Jainism, Kailash is also known as Mount Meru. According to Jain scriptures, Ashtapada, the mountain next to Mt. Kailash, is the site where the first Jain Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha, attained moksha. In Buddhism Vajrayana Buddhists believe that Mount Kailash is the home of the buddha Cakrasaṃvara (also known as Demchok) who represents supreme bliss. There are numerous sites in the region associated with Padmasambhava, whose tantric practices in holy sites around Tibet are credited with finally establishing Buddhism as the main religion of the country in the 7th–8th century AD.

It is said that Milarepa (1052 – 1135 Century) champion of Vajrayana, arrived in Tibet to challenge Naro Bön-chung, champion of the Bon religion of Tibet. The two magicians engaged in a terrifying sorcerers battle, but neither was able to gain a decisive advantage. Finally, it was agreed that whoever could reach the summit of Kailash most rapidly would be the victor.

Naro Bon-chung sat on a magic drum and soared up the slope, Milarepa’s followers were dumbfounded to see him sitting still and meditating. Yet when Naro Bön-chung was nearly at the top, Milarepa suddenly moved into action and overtook him by riding on sunlight, thus winning the contest. In Bon, a religion native to Tibet, maintain that the entire mystical region and Kailash, which they call the axis mundi, Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring.

Every year, thousands make a pilgrimage to Kailash, following a tradition going back thousands of years. Pilgrims of several religions believe that circumambulating Mount Kailash on foot is a holy ritual that will bring good fortune. The path around Mount Kailash is 52 km (32 mi) long. Some pilgrims believe that the entire walk around Kailash should be made in a single day, which is not considered an easy task. A person in good shape walking fast would take perhaps 15 hours to complete the entire trek. The pilgrim bends down, kneels, prostrates full-length, makes a mark with his fingers, rises to his knees, prays, and then crawls forward on hands and knees to the mark made by his/her fingers before repeating the process. The mountain is located in a particularly remote and inhospitable area of the Tibetan Himalayas. It is a popular belief that the stairways on Mount Kailash lead to heaven.