Revered by four Asian religions comprising millions of people, Tibet’s Mount Kailash is undoubtedly one of the holiest places in the world. Pilgrims of the Buddhist, Hindu, Jainist and Tibetan religions come to Kailash to complete ritual walks around the base of the mountain. But half a century of Chinese rule has paralyzed religious and cultural expression in Tibet. After years of complete religious repression, during which thousands of monasteries were destroyed and pilgrimage was banned, Tibet now struggles with cultural dilution as the Chinese migrate to the region with the help of government incentives. More recently, the Chinese government has intensified its efforts to make Kailash a tourist attraction, channeling money into infrastructure construction in this remote region, but without regard to the sanctity of the place. According to the Dalai Lama, “Mount Kailash and its surroundings have a special symbolic value for Tibetans. The region has been an undisputed part of Tibet since the emergence of the Tibetan nation, while the sacred peak has long been a focus of spiritual inspiration.
Both geography and mythology play a role in the sacred meaning of Mount Kailash. Just over 22,000 feet away, Kailash cannot compete with the peaks of the nearby Himalayan mountain range, which includes Mount Everest. Its grandeur lies not in its height but in its distinctive shape (four steep faces that match the cardinal points of the compass) and its solitary location, free of neighboring mountains that can dwarf or obscure it. Kailash is regarded as the earthly manifestation of the mythical Mount Meru, or Sumeru, the spiritual center of the universe in Hindu, Buddhist and Jainist cosmology.
This great mountain was believed to be the source of four rivers that give life and, in fact, the Indo, Brahmaputra, Sutlej and Karnali, which is an important tributary of the sacred Ganges of India, begin in the area around Kailash. For Tibetan Buddhists, Kailash is the abode of the Tantric deity of Meditation Demchog. Hindus see Kailash as the throne of the great god Shiva, one of the most important deities. Jainists revere Kailash as the place where his first prophet received enlightenment. And long before Buddhism took root in Tibet in the 7th century AD.C Kailash was revered by the B’npo, practitioners of the region’s indigenous religion.
Pilgrims travel to Kailash to complete a 32-mile ritual ring road. Most take one to three days to complete the circuit, although some devotees spend up to a month prostrate on the ground. All pilgrims respect the sacredness of the mountain by not climbing it. Along the route there are monasteries and points of spiritual and ritual importance:
Natural stone carvings revered as Buddha footprints, rock formations depicting mythological forms, places where pilgrims collect souvenirs and others where pilgrims leave offerings such as a lock of hair or a tooth. Kailash, which is located in the remote southwestern region of Tibet, near the borders of India and Nepal, is far from any population center and is not easily accessible. However, for most Buddhists and Hindus in Tibet and India, the trip to Kailash is the most important pilgrimage they can make.
Since the 7th century, when Tibet began to emerge as a unified nation, the country enjoyed relative autonomy. However, in 1950, communist China invaded Tibet. The Tibetan government, led by the newly enthroned XIV Dalai Lama, was forced to sign an agreement for The “Peaceful Liberation” of Tibet or face further military action. In 1959, after a failed Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India and established a government in exile. At the time, the Hindu pilgrimage route to Kailash was closed. China abolished the Tibetan government and imposed social changes based on Marxist principles. The situation worsened during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, when religious practice was banned and Chinese forces set out to destroy the Buddhist monasteries and Boen, including six on Mount Kailash. By the mid-1970s, China began softening its stance and, by the 1980s, Tibetans had regained some religious freedom. Monasteries that had not been destroyed began to reopen and confiscated religious artifacts were returned. Indian pilgrimages to Kailash resumed and, in 1984, the area around Kailash was officially opened to Western visitors. However, the incidence of human rights abuses and religious repression remains high and Tibet’s political situation remains unstable.
More than 50 years after the so-called liberation of Tibet, more than 1.2 million Tibetans have died, tens of thousands more have been forced to flee the country and more than 6,000 monasteries have been destroyed by Chinese forces. Chinese control of Tibet continues to affect Mount Kailash and religious practice there. Although the Chinese constitution allows freedom of religious belief, the government strictly controls religious practice and is quick to suppress religious activities that could be seen as forms of popular organization and political dissension. Because of its ties to the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism is a particular target of government suspicion. Monks and nuns of Buddhist temples may face expulsion from religious places without signing statements agreeing, inter alia, to denounce the political authority of the Dalai Lama and recognize the unity of China and Tibet.
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