mount kailash

The mount kailash lies at the geographic watershed of southasia. Before it a few kilometers to south, are two lakes Mapham yutso(manasarovar) and thuktso(rakshal tal) shaped respectively like the sun and moon. The sources of four major rivers from this geomantic crown and flows in four cardinal direction: the indus(north) into pakistan, bramaputra(east), karnali(later enters into ganga)west, and sutlej(west). It is for this reason and because of the unique beauty of the region that mount kailash has been looked upon as a sacred realm- a goal of pilgrimage by peoples from tibet, india and other parts of asiafor thousands of year for mast travellers at Ali(ngari). The prime focus of their journey is the sacred mount kailash(6714m). the extreordinary mountain is regarded as the “aheart of the world”, the centre of asia by the buddhist, hindus, jains and followers of other spritual triditions.
         Mount kailash has long been an objective of worship for four major religions. For hindus, it is the domain of shiva, the destroyer and transformer. To the buddhist faithful, mount kailash is the abode of Demchok(samsara) a wrathful menifestation of sakya tupa. The jains of india also revere the mountain as the site at which the first of their saints was emancipated.
         The mountain had been the most sacerd place for followers of the Bon religion for hundred of years. It was to mount kailash that the founder of Bon, SherabMiwoche, first came and taught in tibet perhaps several thousand years before. Even after Padmasambhava buddhism and indian masters become established in tibet, mount kailash continued to be venerated especially by the Bnpos. 
         This changed when milarepa become a mendicant master and began teaching on a small band of disciples. He travelled to mount kailash on the basis of a prophecy to the Buddha which states that (this mountain at the navel of the world”. When he arrived there Milarepa met a powerful bonpo master called “Naro Bonchung” who presided over mount kailash and lake manasarovar. Each disputed the authority and they agreed to resolve this in a competion of their magical powers. In the result, Naro was defeated by the Milarepa and the Bonpo conceded defeat and was given jurisdiction over a neighbouring mountain called Bonri to the east.
          From that contest by Milarepa untill today the mountain has been influenced by the buddhist sect called “Khagyurpa.” At the sametime mount kailash remains a major pilgrimage site for Tibetan Bonpos whose costom is to circle it anticlockwise. For hindus, pilgrim from india, mount kailash is the abode of shiva, the lord of destruction and one of the triumvirate which incldes Brahma and Vishnu. Jains too have traditionally made pilgrimage to mount kailash.