Lost History – The Magic of Mount Kailash

Deep in the misty miles of the Tibetan Plateau stands a magical mountain called Mount Kailash. It is considered a sacred site by at least four different faiths and, despite numerous petitions, remains unclimbed. Hindus, Buddhists, Janis and Bonpos all cite its significance in their venerated scriptures and conduct annual pilgrimages to the holy locale.

It is seen by some as a sanctuary to a set of living gods, by others, as a spiritual gateway to the heavens and is today recognised by over a billion people as the centre of the world.

In Hinduism, the great god, Shiva, is said to dwell on Kailash’s highest slopes alongside his goddess-consort, Parvati, and their divine progeny. In Buddhism, it is a fabled shrine that inspired several influential sages who all claimed to have experienced rare bouts of sublime bliss whilst meditating in the otherworldly atmosphere of the magic mountain.

Medieval Hindu literature describes the hallowed summit’s four sides as being constituted by distinctly sumptuous qualities, with one quarter being crystal, one ruby, one gold and one lapis lazuli. Indeed, various entomological investigations have discovered that the earliest and likeliest root of Kailash is the Sanskrit word kelāsa, meaning “crystal.”

As with Hinduism, the mountain is revered as an axis mundi in Buddhism, Jainism and Bon – an axis of rotation of the celestial spheres or a portal to empyreal realms, a kind of convergence of every corner of the cosmos, where a mortal can enter higher worlds.

Often depicted as a mystical pillar that upholds heaven and submerges hell, thousands of adherents to the religions mentioned above congregate there every year and circumambulate the uneven terrain surrounding the base of Kailash.

Chinese jurisdiction over the region has made the coveted excursion challenging to orchestrate in modern times, especially for citizens hailing from hostile countries and other continents.

The peregrination around Kailash is 32 miles and is supposed to be done in a single day by the most zealous visitors. Strangely, Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims proceed to walk clockwise around Kailash, while Bonpos and Janists file anti-clockwise around the mountain.

There is no definite date for when pilgrims first descended on the valley to prostrate and pray. Still, historians safely assume it is a rite that was performed even before the birth of most of the religions that currently revere the peak.

For many prominent mountaineers, Kailiash has become a controversial topic. Due to its religious value, it is deemed a sin to climb by many and can only be climbed by the truly sinless in the eyes of others. No one has officially scaled its dramatic acclivity and seen the awesome view of the valleys below from its soaring 21,000ft summit.

In the 1980s, the Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messener was afforded the unique offer of attempting the climb but he turned it down out of respect for the pilgrims, saying “If we conquer this mountain, then we conquer something in people’s souls. I would suggest we go and climb something a little harder. Kailas is not so high and not so hard”.

The allure of this oriental Olympus has tantalised ambitious climbers for decades, but it seems doubtful that any team will be given permission to disembark given its extraordinary status.

The mountain-dwelling philosopher Friedrich Nietszche wrote in his book, Human, All Too Human, “Faith, indeed, has up to the present not been able to move real mountains, although I do not know who assumed that it could. But it can put mountains where there are none”.

Though seen as “not so high” by professional alpinists, Kailiash towers in the pious imaginings of millions of men and women. To step foot on its highest ground would forever tarnish a symbol of serenity for a multitude of worshippers across the world.

In our relentless age of unforgiving rationality, it is consoling to hear of a mystical place whose spiritual chastity is being actively protected.