Cite
MLA
“Mount Kailash.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/yatra/kailash-sacred-mountain/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Mount Kailash. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/yatra/kailash-sacred-mountain/
The route
- 1Darchen
- 2Chuku Gompa
- 3Dirapuk, below the north face
- 4Dolma La
- 5Gaurikund
- 6Zutulpuk
- 7Darchen
What defines it
- 01
About 6,638 m; no recorded ascent
- 02
Holy to Hindus, Jains (Ashtapada), Buddhists (Kang Rinpoche) and Bon
- 03
Sindhu, Sutlej, Karnali and Brahmaputra rise nearby
- 04
Manasarovar and Rakshas Tal below it
- 05
52 km kora over the Dolma La (about 5,630 m)
01Shiva’s mountain
In the Puranas Kailash is the seat of Bhagwan Shiva, where he sits in meditation with Mata Parvati, Ganesha, Kartikeya and Nandi; the Ramayana tells how Ravana tried to lift it and was pinned under it until he sang Shiva’s praise, and Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava and Meghaduta place the courtship of Shiva and Parvati and the cloud’s flight among its slopes. Its four faces are said to be of crystal, ruby, gold and lapis. Jains call it Ashtapada, where Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara, attained nirvana. To Tibetan Buddhists it is Kang Rinpoche, the precious snow mountain, the home of Chakrasamvara, and to the Bon faith it is the nine-storeyed swastika mountain.
02Four rivers and two lakes
Around Kailash rise four of Asia’s great rivers: the Sindhu (Indus) to the north, the Sutlej flowing out of Rakshas Tal to the west, the Karnali to the south, which becomes the Ghaghara and joins the Ganga, and the Yarlung Tsangpo to the east, which enters India as the Brahmaputra. Tibetan tradition gives them mouths of a lion, an elephant, a peacock and a horse. South of the mountain lie two lakes side by side: Manasarovar, round and sweet, created from Brahma’s mind, and Rakshas Tal, crescent-shaped and salty, linked with Ravana. For Hindus to see this water is to stand at the head of their rivers.
03Walked round, never climbed
There is no recorded ascent of Kailash. Climbers have been kept away out of respect for its holiness, and the Chinese authorities, after objections from pilgrims and mountaineers, have not allowed attempts. Instead pilgrims walk the kora, about 52 km, from Darchen up the western valley to Dirapuk below the north face, over the Dolma La at about 5,630 metres, past the small green lake Hindus call Gaurikund, and down to Zutulpuk and back. Hindus, Buddhists and Jains go clockwise; Bon followers go anticlockwise. Most take three days. Tibetans often walk it in a single long day, and some measure the whole path in prostrations. A shorter inner kora goes closer to the south face.
In the texts
- Kumarasambhava and Meghaduta of Kalidasa
- Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda
