We all know that water is the source of our lives. But water also has different meanings in different cultures. Due to the harsh environment of Tibet and lack of science, Tibetans worship nature a lot. They worship mountains and lakes. Water is ubiquitous in Tibet. It can be found in sacred mountains and holy lakes. It is thus infiltrated in Tibetan culture where the God of water is highly respected.
The holy Lake Manasarovar is nestling at the foot of the sacred Mountain Kailash in the Ngari Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region. It is one of the highest freshwater lakes in the world, rising 4,933 meters above sea level. The legend goes that a whopping fish once lived nearby. One time it swam into the Manasarovar and floated on the surface, feeling like a baby embraced by the mother. That is the reason why Tibetans call it “the jade lake in the arms of mother”. Another version holds that the Manasarovar is formed from sacred water poured by presbyters during sacrifice.
As fabricated as those fables are, the Tibetan Ben Religion (the original religion of Tibet and one of the oldest religions in the world) highly respects this lake, regarding it as the root of life and full of fortunes, merits and virtues. According to the Buddhist story, Maya, the Buddha’s mother, had a dream one day before the Buddha was born. In her dream she was sent to the Manasarovar to bathe and cleanse her body in order to prepare for delivery. While she was bathing, the Buddha appeared from the Mount Kailash and entered her womb riding an elephant.
In the eyes of Buddhists, the lake is the paradise as various kinds of herbs that could cure diseases grow around the lake. The lake out of thwarted ice and snow of the Mt. Kailash is sweet dew blessed by the Buddha. The sacred water in the lake helps clean the filth of the mankind, washing off five evils inveterate in their souls, namely greed, anger, obsession, indolence and envy. Bathing in this lake one’s soul is to be purified, skin cleaned and life prolonged. In summer and autumn, devout disciples would come showering in the sacred lake and take a bottle of lake water back home to friends and relatives as gifts.
The faith in the Lake Manasarovar boils largely down to the worship of water, a core element in the faith which remains unchanged during the vicissitude of Tibetan convictions over time. It can be said that water is crucial in activating Tibetans belief in the God of lake. However, as indicated by Tibetan’s belief, the faith in the God of water and that in the God of lake are isolated otherwise.
.jpg "Tibetan Local Travel Agency")
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