Mount Kailash – Religious Significance

Mount Kailash – Religious Significance

In Hinduism:

According to Hinduism, Shiva resided at the summit of a mountain named Kailasa, where he sat in a state of meditation along with his wife Parvati. He is believed to be the founder of Yoga and so is named as Adi Yogi. According to Charles Allen, one description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli. It is a pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges symbolizing a lotus. Hindus pay reverence to Mount Kailash as a throne of Lord Shiva, the great Tirtha and the ultimate pilgrimage site on earth. It is considered most auspicious to make a religious pilgrimage around its fifty-three kilometers circuit which is also known as Kailash Parikrama.

In Jainism:

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, Rishabhadeva, attained moksha (liberation). In Jain tradition, it is believed that after Rishabhadeva attained nirvana, his son emperor Bharata Chakravartin has constructed three stupas and twenty four shrines of the 24 Tirthankaras with their idols studded with precious stones and named it Sinhnishdha.

In Buddhism:

Mount Kailash (Kailasa) is known as Mount Meru in Buddhist texts. It is central to its cosmology, and a major pilgrimage site for some Buddhist traditions. While the Buddha is believed to have magically visited Kailash in the 5th century BC, the religion of Buddhism only entered Tibet, via Nepal and India, in the 7th century AD. Tibetan Buddhists call the mountain Kang Rimpoche, the 'Precious One of Glacial Snow', and regard it as the dwelling place of Demchog (also known as Chakrasamvara) and his consort, Dorje Phagmo.

Three hills rising near Kang Rimpoche are believed to be the homes of the Bodhisatvas Manjushri, Vajrapani, and Avalokiteshvara. 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 (c. 1052 – c. 1135), champion of Vajrayana, arrived in Tibet to challenge Naro Bön-chung, champion of the Bön 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. While Naro Bön-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. He did, however, fling a handful of snow on to the top of a nearby mountain, since known as Bönri, bequeathing it to the Bönpo and thereby ensuring continued Bönpo connections with the region. Buddhist pilgrims perambulate clockwise around the mountain and it is called Kailash Kora. Kailash Kora has the greatest spiritual significance for the Buddhists.

In Bön:

In Tibet’s pre-Buddhist, Shamanic Bon religion, Mt Kailash is abode of Sky Goddess Sipaimen, and is in the form of a giant Mandala that is the central point of all Tantra Rituals and Forces. The founder of Bon Religion, Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche is believed to live on Mt Kailash, which is considered as nine- story Swastika Mountain, and the axis mundi – the central pillar of the world. The Bonpo Pilgrims walk counter-clockwise around the Mt Kailash.

Sacred Lakes:

In fact, the entire region of Mt. Kailash has religious significance. The region also includes the two turquoise-blue, pristine high-altitude lakes of Mansarovar and Rakshesa.

Source for four major rivers:

Another uniqueness contributing to the mystical and spiritual aspects of Kailash is that four most sacred rivers of the Indian sub-continent begin from here – Sutlej, Karnili, Brahmaputra and Indus. The end of these rivers is more than 2,000 kilometers apart, yet they all have their source within hundred kilometers of Mt. Kailash.

Life Time Journey:

Mt. Kailash, the holy region, is known as navel of the universe, attracting scholars and researchers from all over the world. Mt. Kailash (also known as the ‘Sumeru Parbat’ in Hindu epics) provides a spiritually enriching, naturally unique and a truly rewarding journey of a life-time.