The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s9.3

c5.s9.3

Kailāsa—The Kailāsa mountain; it is the Kangrinpoche of the Tibetans, situated about 25 miles to the north of Mānas-sorovara beyond Gangri which is also called Darchin, and to the east of the Niti Pass. Batten’s *Niti Pass* in *JASB.*, 1838, p. 314.) It is a spur of the Gangri range, and is said to be the abode of Mahādeva and Pārvatī. “In picturesque beauty” says H. Strachy in *JASB.*, 1848, p. 158, “Kailāsa far surpasses the big Gurla or any other of the Indian Himalaya that I have ever seen; it is full of majesty—a king of mountains.” Through the ravines on either side of the mountain is the passage by which the pilgrims perform their perambulation in two days The identification of the Kunlun range with Kailâsa is a mistake (see Map of Tibet in Dr Waddell’s Lhasa and its Mysteries, p 40) The Mahâbhârata, Vana (chs 144, 156) and the Brahmânda P, (ch 51) include the mountains of the Kumun and Garwal in the Kailâsa range (see Vikra-morvasî, Act IV, Fraser’s Himâla Mountains, p 470) Badrikâ âsrama is said to be situated on the Kailâsa mountain (Mbh, Vana P, ch 157) The Kailâsa mountain is also called Hemakûṭa (Mbh, Bhîshma P, ch 6) Four rivers are said to rise from Gangrî, from the mountain or the lakes, the Indus on the north is fabled to spring from the mouth of the Lion, the Śatadru on the west from the Ox, the Karnalî on the south from the Peacock, and the Brahmaputra on the east from the Horse [JASB (1848), p 329] Sven Hedin says, “The spring at Dolchu is called Langchenkabat, or the mouth out of which the Elephant river (i e, the river Sutlej as called by the Tibetans) comes, just as Brahmaputra’s source is the Singi kabab, or the mouth from which the Lion river issues The fourth in the series is the Mapcha kamba, the Peacock river or Karnalî (Sven Hedin’s Trans Himalaya, vol II, p 103) For the description of the Kailâsa mountain [see Sven Hedin’s Trans Himalaya, vol II, ch 51, and H Strachey’s Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan (Râkhas Tal) in JASB, 1848, pp 157, 158] Kailâsa mountain is the Ashṭâpada mountain of the Jainas According to Mr Sherring, the actual circuit round the holy mountain occupies, on an average, three days, the distance being about 25 miles The water of the Gaurî-kuṇḍa, a sacred lake that remains frozen all the year round, has to be touched during the circuit Darchan is the spot where the circuit usually begins and ends (Sherring’s Western Tibet, p 279) But it is strange that none of the travellers mention anything about the temple of Hara and Pârvatî who are said to reside in the mountain