Kailash –Mansarovar : A journey to the home of Lord Shiv – My own personal experience.

Mount Kailash yatra is considered to be the ultimate yatra for Hindus, as Mt.Kailash is the abode of Lord Shiv, Mother , Lord Ganesh and Lord Kartikeya. Soaring over 22,000 feet Mt. Kailash is the world’s most venerated holy place not just for Hindus, but also Buddhist (Buddhists call the mountain Kang Rimpoche meaning the precious one of glacial snow), Bon (Shamanic religion of Tibet and surrounding area which pre-dates Buddhism) and Jains (Jains call the mountain Astapada).

In Hindu philosophy we have many lakes, rivers and mountains which are holy. For example Rivers likes Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Sindhu, Gandaki and of course many more. The philosophy is based on Purush and Prakruti; Purush represented by Lord Shiv and Prakruti (Nature) represented by Mother Parvati the consort of Lord Shiv. Four lakes (Sarovars) are given the importance of holiest of all lakes in which one has to take seven dips in a life time to gain Moksha (Salvation). These four Sarovars are:-

(located in the western district of Kutch, Gujarat)  Bindu Sarovar (located inGujarat near Siddhpur)  Pampa Sarovar (located in South India and famous for devotee of Sri Raam – Sabribai)  Mansarovar (located in Tibet next to Mt Kailash)

Mansarovar Lake is a freshwater lake which lies at 15,060 ft above sea level. It represents purity in its purest form according to Hindu scriptures, Lord Brahma (the creator) created this lake in his mind (Manas) and hence it is called Manasarovar . Every Hindu feels the urge to visit and pay obeisance (take Darshan), take a holy dip and drink the nectar waters of this holy lake.

I have always been fascinated by the mysteries concerning Mt Kailash. What is most fascinating is the unique, symmetrical, pyramid-like shape of Mt Kailash. It looks like a shivling placed in the middle of lotus. From close quarters the mountain appears like the “Shikhar” of a temple. While the surrounding mountains are of reddish brown colour, Kailash is always clothed in pristine white snow and stands out. The striations on the mountain look like marks of Swastika. Similarly, Mansarovar is nearly oval in shape, with streams from Kailash flowing into it.

Considering its holiness, no expeditions have been carried out to climb the peak of Mt Kailash.

In the ancient texts of , Mt. Kailash is referred to as the centre of the world, it is the source of mighty rivers like Sindhu (Indus – both Hindus and India gets its name from this river and a number of ancient civilisations prospered on the banks of mighty Sindhu), Sutlej which flows to the west of India, Brahmputra which flows to the east of India and Karnali which is the largest tributary to River Ganga.

I have been meaning to make a pilgrimage to Holy Mt Kailash and Mansarovar for a while and mentioned this to a few friends who may be interested in joining in and hence form our own yatra group. In 2012 and we agreed that we will get a like-minded group together for this yatra. By mid- 2013 we had around 16 people who were keen to make this yatra of a life time, so we got together as a group, nominated one person to liaise with various travel companies to get the best package for the group. After considering a number of travel companies we decided on Skylink travel (based in Wembley, North West London) for their flexibility (in preparing an appropriate package to suit our needs), being proactive to our travel requirements and good value for money. By December 2013 our yatra group had grown to 28 people (with 5 people being from Kenya).

There is a lot of pre travel preparation for such yatra which include:-

 Purchasing appropriate warm clothing and accessories like Trekking shoes, Thermal under clothes, Raincoats and trousers, gloves, mountain glasses, monkey caps, sun guard, dust masks etc.  Personal fitness plan (minimum of 5km walk per day at least 3 months in advance)  Pranayam – Breathing exercises as the oxygen levels are very low in high altitude areas like Mansarovar and Mt Kailash  Getting special travel insurance which includes repatriation and altitude up to 18,000 ft

Our Journey started on 11th May 2014 with the yatra group flying to Kathmandu (Nepal). As soon as we landed and checked into our hotel (Hotel Gokarna Resort, Kathmandu), we were taken to Sri Pashupatinath Temple to take blessings from Lord Shiv so we may commence our journey to his abode in Kailash.

Sri Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal

Yatra group at Sri Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal

Pashupatinath temple is located on the banks of the Bagmati river in Kathmandu, and it is one of the holiest Lord Shiv shrine in Nepal. According to the Nepalese legend the temple was built by Supuspa Dev a Linchhavi king in 753AD, there is a stone inscription in the court yard of the pashupatinath temple which was erected by king Jaydev the 11th in 753 AD. The temple is in Pagoda style with beautiful wooden carvings and is covered with cooper on the roof.

We left very early the next day from Kathmandu heading towards the border town of Kodari , a bridge (friendship bridge) separating Nepal from Tibet (China). The immigration process was a very painful one lasting over 4 hours. Unfortunately one member of our team was not allowed to carry on with Yatra due to some paperwork mix up at Lhasa. This person was so looking forward to performing yatra with his mother and his wife, and it was heart breaking to see him being turned away.

We finally entered into Tibet and headed towards our Land Cruisers, on which the journey to Mansarovar was to be undertaken. We had to get into groups of four as each Land Cruiser would consist of a Tibetan driver, four yatris and one Sherpa. Security in the Chinese Tibet at this time was so tight that even after rigorous immigration checks we had to wait for Chinese border security police to escort our fleet of land cruisers to Nyalam. The road beyond the border town of Jhangmu was silken smooth – The Chinese have realised the economic benefit of pilgrims and hence invested in good infrastructure to serve them well. It took us nearly 5 hours and we had climbed from 4000 ft at Kodari to 12,000ft at the town of Nyalam. We had crossed the alpine country with vegetation to Tibetan plateau devoid of any trees or greenery.

Tibetan road around 120 km from Jhangmu

Nyalam – We were all in our down jackets, gloves and monkey caps when we reached Nyalam. We stayed at Nyalam for two nights in order to adjust to height and acclimatisation. The hotel facilities at Nyalam were very basic. We trekked up to a nearby grassy meadow just below the snow peaked mountains. I found out much later on that if any yatri had difficulty with this trekking, they would have been advised to opt out of Kailash Parikrama. We were also advised not to take any showers or baths from Kodari onwards!

Yatra group at Nyalam

Everyone was checked twice a day by accompanying paramedic, a quiet Nepalese gentleman called Shyamsunder Pradhan, Shyam would check oxygen level in the blood, blood pressure and pulse rate and jot down the results on individual health chart for each yatri. We also started taking the Diomox tablets in the morning and evening, to reduce altitude sickness. Unfortunate side effect of the Diomox is loose motion (not a pleasant condition when you are constantly travelling and there are no facilities!)

Altitude sickness hit me quite hard with nausea and severe headaches but it definitely was well worth the discomfort to be able to reach the land of Lord Shiv. Constant meditation upon Lord Shiv and chanting of Mahamritunjay mantra really worked wonders for me, the headache subsided to a dull ache and diarrhoea also stopped on the end of the second day at Nyalam.

We had a priest with us in the group and the mornings and evenings were rather special and spiritual with chanting of vedic mantras and satsang and Bhajans. This really created a special atmosphere where one could realise the link between the jeev (atma / soul) and Shiv (the supreme parmatma / god).

We left Nyalam on 15th May, the road snaked up and around the Tibetan plateau, the sky appeared deep blue with not a trace of cloud anywhere, the landscape was barren, brown and awe –inspiring with not a blade of grass anywhere in sight. Our driver was a silent Tibetan who played loud Tibetan music non-stop throughout the journey. We reached Saga (16,120 ft above sea level) and were greeted by rosy cheeked Tibetan kids outside our hotel who wanted anything from biscuits to sweets from us. We left Saga very early on 16th May, the stars were shining in the sky as was the moon, the sky was very clear and hence the stars and the moon appeared very close. The sensation I felt was that we were up in the sky among the stars as the land was totally devoid of any signs of civilisation, population or vegetation, it was simply desolate land with one road running through it. The sunshine on the Tibetan plateau is a sight well worth all the hardship that we were enduring like difficulty in breathing, tiredness, high blood pressure, constant nose bleeds and loss of appetite. Our fleet of Land Cruisers made constant stops so that yatri could relieve themselves! We were told to keep drinking water on a constant basis as water has oxygen and that could supplement the oxygen levels within our blood streams hence the constant need to go and relieve ourselves!

Good to acceptable oxygen level is between 75 % to 85%, one yatri from Nairobi was on 94% throughout the journey however most of us varied between the range of 75-to 85%.

My own oxygen level was 73% Nyalam and climbed up to 78% in Saga as result of constant breathing exercises (Pranayama Yoga). As far as the blood pressure and pulse rate were concerned I was doing well in those areas however my wife’s blood pressure was getting high everyday.

We passed a beautiful Buddhist monastery at Zhadun and a place called Prayang ; a small settlement in a desolate and dusty place.

We reached the banks of holy Mansarovar in late afternoon, the sunshine reflecting on the pure azure waters of holy Mansarovar with snow covered Mt Kailash in the background was a sight worth all the hardship endured in the journey. Just the sight of the holy lake and Kailash made my hair stand and send shivers in the back. Most of the yatris were overwhelmed at being at this spiritual magical place, this feeling flowed freely though our eyes in the form of tears. Many including myself were weeping and kept gazing at Lake Mansoravar spellbound. Tears of joy, tears of achievement, tears of devotion and tears of love for Bholebaba (Lord Shiv) flowed freely many eyes. We paid obeisances to Sriman Mahadev (and mother Parvati, Lord Ganesh and Lord Kartikeya) from the car park by prostrating ourselves on the ground (dandvat pranams).

On the banks of Lake Mansarovar, under the shade of Mt Kailash Our fleet of Land Cruisers would stay at this place and we were to continue our journey on a bus. We had a holy dip in the freezing Lake Mansarovar (I have never been in colder waters in my life), this was our first bath after many days! Most people ventured ankle deep and sprinkled the cold water on themselves for bath, a few of us went waist deep in order to totally immerse ourselves in the purest of the pure water, I wanted to take traditional seven dips but lost my nerve after four dips and came out. Having dried myself I put on four layers of warm clothes including full thermal under clothes, dawn jacket, moneky cap, and shawl even with all the warm clothing I was shivering for about 30 minutes.

The dip in the mansarovar was bracing to say the least however once dried and dressed it added special energy which even 10 Red Bull cans cannot compete with!

We did parikrama of Lake Mansarovar and arrived at guest house on the northern shore of Mansarovar near the ancient Chui Gompa. Next day we performed a Rudra havan on the banks of Mansarovar.

Holy Mansarovar

Yatra group after performing Havan at Mansarovar

Chiri, the leader of our Sherpas, was busy booking ponies and porters for the Kailash parikrama. We were told that due to bad weather we could not perform the full parikrama as there was a lot of snow and ice and ponies and porters would not go beyond Derapuk.

The next day May 17th, we left Mansarovar to head towards Darchen which was a few hours’ drive. One could see Mt Kailash much closer from Darchen. One lady from our group became severely ill due to very low oxygen level and had to be air lifted (helicopter)with her husband so that she could be treated properly in hospital, this indeed was very sad to lose yet another fellow yatri when they were so close to the main objective of this yatra.

On 18th May, we left Darchen and reached Tarboche by bus , from here on we were continue our journey by pony and foot. We walked up to Yam Dwar (the gate of Lord of death), it is mentioned in the scriptures that after death, Lord Yam takes the soul of the departed to be judged through this gate. We did three parikrama of Yam Dwar (for those who cannot do the actual parikrama of Mt Kailash may perform three parikrama of Yam Dwar and get the same benevolence).

Yam Dwar with Mt Kailash in the right side of the background

Porters and ponies were allotted strictly by a lottery draw. No pick and choose was allowed. The porter allotted to me was frail old lady with weathered face who looked very ill, I was reluctant to hand over my rucksack to her as I felt sorry for her but she insisted. The communication with her and the person tending the pony was purely by sign as neither could understand Hindi and my Tibetan was limited to thank you and please.

We started off on our parikrama of Mt Kailash by a riding our ponies in a wide riverbed which was still flowing under the thick slabs of ice, I could only imagine how this dry bed could come to life if it rained.

Initially we had the darshan of the south face of Mt Kailash and as our journey continued through the great valley, we had darshan of the west face. Finally we reached our camp at Derapuk (16,500 ft) to take darshan of the famous north face of Mt Kailash.

North Face of Mt.Kailash at Derapuk

Mt Kailash appeared so near from here that I felt a brief walk up the grassy meadow and I would be able to touch it. So, leaving entire group behind me, I started a steady climb up towards Lord Shiv’s abode. I was getting really tired and was finding it difficult to breathe, but an invisible force was still pulling me towards the peak. I must have climbed for over an hour when a young Chinese soldier (I had not seen anyone during my climb but I guess I must have been focused on my climb and not seen him) made it very clear to me that it was not safe for me to proceed any further, so I decided to offer my prayers at a big rock covered in Tibetan prayer flags. I must have spent an hour or so praying and in meditation to Lord Shiv when I realised that it was very difficult to breathe and to move any of my limbs, I checked the altitude meter; I was at 17,300 ft and hence the difficulty. So I made a very slow and laborious journey back to the camp to join the rest of the yatris.

Mt Kailash (North Face) at Sunrise

The 800 ft climb had taken its toll my Oxygen level; I was down to 65%and spent the night mostly awake due to severe headache and loud snoring of fellow yatris that I was sharing the room with.

The next day was an epic journey day; four hours by pony back to Yam Dwar, 2 hours by bus to Darchen, followed by parikrama of Mansarovar and finally 9 hours’ land cruiser drive back to Saga.

We reached the Tibet border and were back in Nepal on 21st May, we stayed the night at Tatopani, where there are natural hot springs. All yatris indulged in having long leisurely baths in the steaming hot water.

We travelled to a place called Dhulikhel and were met by the unfortunate colleague who was not allowed to enter into Tibet, he made us all stand in a group and he did our parikrama and paid obeisance to each one of us. Everyone had tears in their eyes to see such a pure devotee who was not allowed to perform his yatra by Chinese bureaucrats. An important point to note from this incident: Anyone with Indian or Kenyan passport wishing to make this yatra must make an application with a minimum group of five.

We spent two relaxing days at Dhulikhel enjoying the serenity and beauty of the majestic Himalayas before returning to Kathmandu. We went back to Sri Pashupatinath Temple to say our thanks to Lord Shiv for making our yatra possible, followed by a Mahamrityunjay havan at Buddha Neelkanth Temple.

Havan at Buddha Neelkanth Temple

We set off quite early on 26th May from Kathmandu towards Pokhra and visited Manokamna Devi shrine on the way. We reached Pokhra late in the evening and the next day was again an early start to the airport to catch a 6.00am flight to Jomsom.

The small plane carrying 15 of us flew through the valley next to the majestic snow covered Annapurna Mountains. We set off to Muktinath on a dirt track road in some sort of four wheel drive vehicle. I say some sort as the vehicle had seen better days; they were all dented, covered in dust, put together with various pieces of metal sheets and doors secured with ropes! The short journey up to Muktinath was very painful as the vehicle bounded around on the rough terrain.

Muktinath is located 12,300 ft in the Annapurna range of the Himalayas and is a holy place both for Hindus and Buddhists; the scriptures refer to this area as Mukti Kshetra (place to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death). There is a temple dedicate to Lord Muktinath (Vishnu) and 108 jal dhara. Muktinath is also considered as one of the 51 Shakti Peeth. Holy river Gandaki originates from one of the glaciers here. River Gandaki (called Kali Gandaki here) is the source of Shaligram (form of Lord Vishnu), Shaligram is required to establish any temple of Lord Vishnu anywhere in the world.

Lord Swaminarayan performed Tapasya here in the form of Nilakanth and hence this place (refer to in the Swaminarayan sect as Pulhashram) is also sacred to the followers of Swaminarayan.

We flew back to Pokhra the next day and visited local attractions and temples, some key places to visit while in Pokhra include:-

 Devi Falls  Gupteshwar Mahadev Caves  Lake Fewa  Sri Raam Mandir  Sri Swaminarayan Mandir  Vidhya Basini Temple  River Seti From Pokhra we drove to Chitwan National Park. On the way, we passed three rivers; Kali Gandaki, Trishuli and Maryasadi, which merge together to form River Narayani at Devghat. We took darshan of the temple by crossing the suspension bridge at Devghat and visited a cave where Mother goddess had meditated.

Chitwan National Park is a world heritage site, ecologically important for the conservation of Bengal tigers, elephants (it has a special breeding centre for elephants), sloth bears, striped hyenas, wild dogs, golden jackals, spotted deer and many more animals. We took an elephant ride through the jungle hoping to see tigers but they were shy on that day!

We arrived in Janakpur around lunch time on 30th May; I have been really looking forward to Janakpur to take darshan of Mother Sita.

Janakpur is a crowded town with myriads of temples all over the place. Historically this is a very important town for Hindus. According to scriptures like Ramayan, Janakpur was the capital city of Mithila kingdom ruled by wise king Janak whose daughter Sita (also known as Janaki) was married to Lord Sri Raam.

The Janaki Temple looks like a palace with articulate design, next to Janaki Temple is the place where Lord Sri Raam, Laxman, Bharatji and Shatrughna got married to the four princess of Mithila.

Sri Janaki Temple, Janakpur

We performed the Sandhya Aarti of Kishoriji (Mother Sita) and took darshan of the Raam Vivah Mandir. The next day we took a short drive to Dhanushdham . The Dhanush Mandir still preserves the bow of Lord Shiv that Sri Raam broke during the swayamvar . There is also Sri Raam Janaki Mandir which has beautiful carvings on its walls. Ancient Mithila was famous for its art and culture and glimpse of this beautiful art could be seen at this temple.

This is a brief summary of our Kailash Mansarovar yatra, hopefully this has provided some insight as to what to expect out of this spiritual journey. The most important aspect is one has to have faith and a positive attitude and the rest in all in preparations beforehand and use of common sense and listening to the tour guides and sherpas.

We took flight from Janakpur back to Kathmandu and from thereon to our own respective destinations (UK and Kenya).