The Geography of the Puranas c8.68

c8.68

The Aruṇa-Śṛṅgavān mountains, according to the Matsya, lie to the west of Kailāsa ('on the other side of Kailāsa' according to Vāyu). They are full of herbs, precious stones and metals and contain hundreds of groups of peaks dominated by the biggest of all mountains where Dhūmralohita, the 'King of Mountains' resides. Lake Sailoda lies at its foot from which a river rises and flows west between the Chakṣu and Sītā rivers into the salt ocean (Western Sea according to Matsya). The mountain to the west of Kailāsa and containing hundreds of high peaks must be the famous Ladakh or Leh range which is the principal feature of Ladakh and carries many peaks above 19,000 feet. This is the Aruṇa range of the Purāṇas and the Dhūmralohita, which lies near the Aruṇa and dominates the whole of the surrounding area, is the Naṅgā Parbāt. The grandeur of Naṅgā Parbāt and its significance as the 'King of Mountains' can be visualised from the following statement by Col. Tanner: