Kailash Mansarovar Tour is a religious journey towards the holy Mt. Kailash and Lake Mansarovar. This pilgrimage to the roof of the world, Tibet takes you around Mount Kailash (6,638m) and the highest altitude freshwater Lake Mansarovar (4,950m). Besides the holy lake and mountain, you get to know more about the natural and cultural flavours of Tibetan Autonomous Region. Every year hundreds of thousands pilgrims from all over the world throng to Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasarovar.
Mt. Kailash is believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva, the creator of the entire universe as described by the Hindu Holy Books. Lord Shiva with his consort Goddess Parvati and the childrern, Lord Ganesh and Lord Kumar (Kartikeya) lives in this Himalayan region. Therefore, the Hindu pilgrims from the Indian Sub-continent make a plan to do Kailash Mansarovar Tour once in lifetime. Often compared with the Egyptian Pyramid, Mt. Kailash is situated on the Tibetan Plateau as a center of religious beliefs.
Mt. Kailash is called ‘Kang Rinpoche’ in the Tibetan language and is revered by the followers of four different religions equally. The pyramid-like mountain is the center of faith for the people following Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon-Po religions. They have their own type of legends regarding this holy peak and typical rituals to pay homage to their deity. There is a religious faith that once you visit the home of Lord Shiva, you get salvation from all the sins you have committed.
Among the many legends associated with Mt. Kailash, Buddhist legend connected with the Chinese Scholar and Saint Milarepa is quite interesting. Once there was a challenge between Saint Milarepa and Saint Naro Bonchung of Bon-Po religion. However, Saint Milarepa with his wit and tactic reached near the peak and took some snow from the top. Although he defeated Naro Bonchung, he allowed the Bon-Po people to show their respect towards the holy shrine. But their rituals be quite different from that of Tibetan Buddhism.
The other attraction of the entire Kailash Mansarovar Tour is the alpine freshwater pond Lake Mansarovar. Hindu people believe that Lord Brahma made this holy lake first in his mind and then in reality. The word ‘Mansarovar’ is made up of two parts: ‘’Manas’ meaning ‘the mind’ and ‘Sarovar’ meaning ‘the lake’. As a whole, as it is the lake made into the mind of Lord Brahma, people began to call it Holy Lake Mansarovar. People from all religions believe that a single dip into the holy water of the lake cleanse all the sins they have committed knowingly or unknowingly.
Similarly, Buddhist people believe that Queen Maya Devi (Lord Buddha’s mother) conceived Siddhartha Gautam after taking a holy dip into the water of the lake. The followers of the Bon-Po religion believe that Mt. Kailash is the ancient spiritual seat of power that if one visits this shrine, s/he gets spiritual success. Jainism refers Mt. Kailash as Mount Astapad (eight steps) which is the sacred site that their god, Rishabhadeva attained freedom of life and rebirth.
Lake Sarovar is about 32 kilometers away from this holy peak Mount Kailash. It is the origin of the four major rivers of Asia: the Sutlej, the Brahmaputra, the Indus and the Ganges. Hindu people believe that journey to Kailash Mansarovar Lake is a must-do activity before they die to get the salvation from the sins they have committed. According to the Hindu ritual, taking a bath into the holy water of Mansarovar Lake gives you freedom from every evil work one has done in their life.
The most fascinating aspect of this pilgrimage is the auspicious Kora around Mt. Kailash. According to the belief, the followers of Hinduism and Buddhism make the holy circumambulation clockwise while the Jains and Bon-Po people do it anti-clockwise. It is believed that taking go-round once gives you salvation from all the vices committed by an individual. Completing the Kora for 13 times brings good fortune and gives salvation to the entire family of the doers. And it one can do this Kora for 108 times, they get instant enlightenment. However, doing Kora through the challenging path above 5,000 meters elevation is not that easy in itself.
You can do this voyage from different sections of Nepal by booking the package from the Nepali local tour and trekking operators. You can do Kailash Tour via Hilsa or Simikot of western Nepal or Khasa border between Tibet and Nepal. The other option to make this ‘journey within the self’ is via Rasuwa Kerung route. Orbit Alpine Adventure has designed Kailash Mansarovar Tour 14 days’ itinerary to assist you experience the journey to one of the Top tourist destinations of the world.
