Kailash Manasarovar Yatra
The ultimate Pilgrimage
A short excerpt of his Kailash Manasarovar experience. For more details you could request for his book on this yatra, you could also get in touch with us and he will be glad to help you.
According to Pauranic accounts, sacred lake Manasarovar is situated in Mount Kailash. Manasarovar region, is also called Brahmasar having been created by Brahma’s mind while Ravana- Hrad lies close to the west of Manas and the source of river Satluj. Kailash- the permanent abode of Lord Shiva, is in the north of the sacred lake Manasarovar, also known as Gana Parvat, Rajatri, Sphatikadri.
The Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage is the toughest test of endurance and of course the most sacred journey available so far for the Hindus. It is tough because of its long trek and the tricky-treacherous terrain; but easily accessible, as the preparations and the facilities provided throughout by the joint efforts of the Government of India and China are commendable.
If we include both Kailash and Manas Parikrama, the complete trek from Tawaghat to Kailash and back is almost 350kms, of which 200kms lies in the high altitude, so it’s important for every member to look after each other and remain fit mentally and physically all through. One must understand that this pilgrimage is not a part of any competition or a race where you will be awarded Bronze, Silver or a Gold medal. It’s more of a team activity where you are part of a group, working together for each other, enjoying with each other at every point and finally completing the journey designed by the Almighty.
I would like to suggest the pilgrims or the trekkers planning to take on high altitude trek, that take as much liquid as possible, don’t run on the mountain, just don’t match your speed with the fastest members, instead adjust your pace with the slowest member, which will help you to recover and feel encouraged with your companions. Acclimatization or in other words conditioning yourself with the altitude you are trekking at, has a huge role in the success of the expedition or the pilgrimage.
During the pilgrimage members don’t get any day off, indirectly they have to trek everyday sometime more, sometime less till they cross 16500ft high Lipulekh Pass- the last point in the Indian territory where they are handed over to the Chinese authorities or in other words your stay in Tibet.
The Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage is the toughest test of endurance and of course the most sacred journey available so far for the Hindus. It is tough because of its long trek and the tricky-treacherous terrain; but easily accessible, as the preparations and the facilities provided throughout by the joint efforts of the Government of India and China are commendable.
If we include both Kailash and Manas Parikrama, the complete trek from Tawaghat to Kailash and back is almost 350kms, of which 200kms lies in the high altitude, so it’s important for every member to look after each other and remain fit mentally and physically all through. One must understand that this pilgrimage is not a part of any competition or a race where you will be awarded Bronze, Silver or a Gold medal. It’s more of a team activity where you are part of a group, working together for each other, enjoying with each other at every point and finally completing the journey designed by the Almighty.
I would like to suggest the pilgrims or the trekkers planning to take on high altitude trek, that take as much liquid as possible, don’t run on the mountain, just don’t match your speed with the fastest members, instead adjust your pace with the slowest member, which will help you to recover and feel encouraged with your companions. Acclimatization or in other words conditioning yourself with the altitude you are trekking at, has a huge role in the success of the expedition or the pilgrimage.
During the pilgrimage members don’t get any day off, indirectly they have to trek everyday sometime more, sometime less till they cross 16500ft high Lipulekh Pass- the last point in the Indian territory where they are handed over to the Chinese authorities or in other words your stay in Tibet.
Before reaching Lipuleh-pass, the pilgrims have to pass through Pangu, Swami Narayan Ashram, Sirkha, Gala, Malpa, Bundi, Garbyang, Gunji, Kalapani and Navidhang. Most of the time one moves very close to river Kali which originates from Kalapani. Gunji is another place worth mentioning as one can find a decent market, a bank helping you to get money exchange and even a big ITBP establishment, providing all medical help through their hospital. The pilgrims are a little scarred of this hospital as the doctors can declare you fit or unfit to take up rest of the pilgrimage. More so from here onward the pilgrims have to move under the directives of ITBP jawans till Lipulekh-pass.
Navidhang is the most beautiful camp because of its amazing natural surroundings as ‘Om Parvat’ is the most dominant part here. One has to bow before the nature’s supernatural structure-‘Om Parvat’. What a scene! It was the climax of wonders as the snow had filled gaps of the ridges in such a way that it had made the shape of ‘Om`. The clarity of ‘Om’ depends on the amount of snow available on these slopes. In early days of June, `Om ` is complete and grand in nature.
At 16500ft high Lipulekh-pass, the pilgrims are handed over to the Chinese authorities and they are supposed to complete some of the immigration formalities at Taklakot which is right on the bank of river Karnali. Almost west of Taklakot, on a much higher platform, there lie ruins of Sibiling monastery which must have been the most sought out monastery imparting religious education and a major link between the Kailash-Manasarovar pilgrims before 1962.
Here the batch was divided into two groups so that each group is accommodated and looked after well. From Taklakot the pilgrims are taken to Tarchen by a govt. transport bus bye passing village Toye (monument of General Zorawar Singh), Gurla-pass, south-east corner of Rakshas-tal and Zaidi (west corner of Manasarovar) and finally reaching Tarchen-the starting point for Kailash parikrama.
Navidhang is the most beautiful camp because of its amazing natural surroundings as ‘Om Parvat’ is the most dominant part here. One has to bow before the nature’s supernatural structure-‘Om Parvat’. What a scene! It was the climax of wonders as the snow had filled gaps of the ridges in such a way that it had made the shape of ‘Om`. The clarity of ‘Om’ depends on the amount of snow available on these slopes. In early days of June, `Om ` is complete and grand in nature.
At 16500ft high Lipulekh-pass, the pilgrims are handed over to the Chinese authorities and they are supposed to complete some of the immigration formalities at Taklakot which is right on the bank of river Karnali. Almost west of Taklakot, on a much higher platform, there lie ruins of Sibiling monastery which must have been the most sought out monastery imparting religious education and a major link between the Kailash-Manasarovar pilgrims before 1962.
Here the batch was divided into two groups so that each group is accommodated and looked after well. From Taklakot the pilgrims are taken to Tarchen by a govt. transport bus bye passing village Toye (monument of General Zorawar Singh), Gurla-pass, south-east corner of Rakshas-tal and Zaidi (west corner of Manasarovar) and finally reaching Tarchen-the starting point for Kailash parikrama.
The Parikrama
Tarchen to Deraphuk: From Tarchen, towards the south-west, lays the vast expanse of Parkha plains and the blue line of Rakshas-tal also known as Ravan Hrid. The path for Deraphuk meandered through the mount-lets, forcing us to trek up and down which wasn’t difficult at all. All of a sudden we saw ‘Dhvajas’ (flags) tied together with thin ropes. Miniature flags printed with ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ were also tied down everywhere. This was ‘Changja Gang’ where many carved stones were also piled on together as mark of respect. On to the north-east, we could see the first glimpse of the mighty Kailash.
Now started a descent for almost 2kms to ‘Sershung’ where a slight tinge of greenery was visible and on to its right, at the base of a hillock, huge shining pillar tied down with ropes and flags all around. The place is called Tarbochhe or Darbochhe, dedicated to Lord Buddha. Dar or tar means `flag’ or ‘Dhvaja’ and `chhe’ or chhen means big; so Darbochhe or Tarbochhe means big flag staff or Mahadhvaja.
At Tarbochhe, on ‘Vaishakha Shukla Chaturdasi and Purnima’ (full moon in the month of May), as this full moon day is the day of birth, enlightenment and death of Lord Buddha, an auspicious festival is organized when special rituals are performed by the monks of Nyanri or Chhuku Gompa. People come from distant places to participate in these rituals. General belief about this place is- if one completes seven parikramas of this mahadhwaja, it gives all ` Niddhis and Siddhis’ to the performer.
Just after Tarbochhe, comes Lha-Chhu (stream) which has a widespread bank and is divided into many subsidiary currents. Finally the river joins Rakshas-tal whose west end becomes the source of river Satluj. On both sides of Lha-Chhu, there are rocks with strange but attractive formation. We carried on for almost 45 minutes in this dry bed till the main current of the stream had not come completely on the left side. There was a small bridge on the stream after which the path went straight up to ‘Nyanri monastery’ considered to be the oldest monastery of the region. From Nyanri, one can see grand view of west face of Kailash.
From here onward the trek to Deraphuk is available on both sides of the stream. On either side, one would find small streams coming down from the mountains emerging with Lha-chhu. Astonishment found its way when we saw small flakes of clouds clearing the top portion of Kailash which became visible to us between the rocky faces and a little further Kailash gave a grand look. Spontaneous utterance- “Oh, this is the north-west face of Kailash!” and then the religious slogans- ‘Har Har Mahadev’, `Om Namah Shivaya’, filled the air and the automatic functioning of the cameras started which carried on for quite some time because the entire atmosphere was filled with an aura and greatness of the mighty Lord Shiva.
We had taken the right side trek till we reached another stream coming from north of Kailash, divided into many subsidiary currents. After crossing over these currents, we found same traditional flags and vast expanse of beautiful green meadows close by. Besides an ideal camp spot, one can have the most fabulous, majestic and the nearest view of mount Kailash. The view is the epitome of supreme divinity and grandeur.
The north face is quite similar to a dome, possibly having a straight granite cliff of 1000 to 1500m and has an inexplicable beauty, which made us to bow whole heartedly. The feeling which en-captured us then, was as if we were cradled in the very lap of ‘Lord Maheshwara’. His broad forehead with Tripunda (three Vermillion lines), was the beauty and grandeur of the north face of Kailash. It seemed to transport us to another dimension- an aura when words fail, when expression dies and when the entire being is just a mere mortal. The smallest grain in this area wore a blanket of divinity and beauty. One cannot remain untouched by this kind of silvery site.
Towards the north of this beautiful camping place, after crossing Lha-chhu, one comes closer to the monastery of Deraphuk also known as Direbu.
Deraphuk to Juthalphuk has a long trek of 20kms that too through 19000ft high Dolma pass and crossing over such a pass in this terrain, where the air cover is very thin and the going gets tougher, things are not all that comfortable. After half a kilometre from Deraphuk, the gradient became much steeper and the walking difficult because of the soft snow all around.
Finally Dolma-pass wasn’t far from but still the last stiff climb. The air had become so thin that its effects on the yaks had also become very prominent, even though yak was considered to be the most stable and stout animal, especially suited to this altitude. We had taken three and a half hours from Deraphuk. When we were paying our respect to Goddess Dolma who symbolizes Taradevi. This entire area was considered to be an embodiment of Goddess Parvati. A huge rock, known to the people in the form of the Goddess is worshipped there. Around the rock, the entire area was flanked by various sized printed flags which had the mantra ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ written on.
Within half an hour we were on the move again. Now we had to descend for 5 to 10 minutes from Dolmapass towards south, when we encountered beautiful lake known as Gaurikund, situated approximately at 18500 ft high and was called Thuki Zingboo by Tibetans. It is an oval-shaped lake about one kilometre long and half a kilometre wide. The water here was of an agate colour and was considered to be auspicious to bathe, to worship or to drink.
Now the ridge was going straight down for an hour or so, till we reached Znongchhu. There was a small stream originating from Gauri-kund which later emerged Znongchhu. It was indeed refreshing to relax on the lush green bank of the river. Then came the never ending trek on the right side of the river which brought us in front of Juthalphuk monastery, also known as Zonzerbu. Now we were free from any tension because of the simple gradual trek of just l0 kms till Tarchen.
Going round Manasarovar:
Manasarovar parikrama starts from Hore. I understand, now-a-days the bus route is available along Manasarovar lake, though I had really lived every moment going all the way from Hore till Zaidi. We did more than forty kilometers on the first day and enjoying the closeness of Manas all the time that too in the presence of the mighty Kailash.
The experience was unbelievable and inexplicable because we offered our prayers many times in a day to lord Shiva and Lord Brahma- the creator of the universe and Manasarovar.
Walking on the Manasarovar bank was just contrary to what we had thought; because the mud was very spongy and our feet were constantly engulfed deep into it. It was not all that easy and comfortable to walk on this kind of soft and flat surface. Lot of our energy was getting wasted while walking continuously on this spongy surface. Our problems got multiplied as never ending hordes of big mosquito like insects started attacking us - either into our eyes, mouth or just everywhere. We were unable to defend their attacks but what astonished us that these flying insects did not bite us like the mosquito of the plains. Within 3hours we were in front of ‘Seralung Gompa’ whose entrance was towards south-west and like other monasteries the walls were painted with the pictures of their deities. ‘Seralung Gompa’ is a kind of eastern entrance to the Manasorovar and the trek turns south-west for almost 2 to 3 hours.
The weather was clear, so the mighty Kailash was always the object of our gaze. Towards the north, stood the mighty, unbeatable and fabulous, majestic, serene and glorious Kailash - holding its head high, whose feet were flanked by a range of hills as if the dome of a temple got pasted in an artistic manner. The height of ‘Kailash Parvat’ is comparatively much more than the hills which kiss its feet. This was the southern face of Kailash. The lake seemed as if, from the base of Kailash, it had spread its gigantic wings encumbering your vision, filling it with the serenity of an agate colour, shading it with the unique and heavenly touch of Lord Brahma. From far-end till the horizon, all that vision could encapture, was the vast expanse of the holy waters. The circumference of this lake is said to be not less than 100kms. The silvery ripples on the lake did not scream like the waves on the sea but their silence hit heavenly musical notes which lured in the atmosphere another dimension, another era, another world which was almost supernatural.
Our thoughts returned to the holy lake again. Our mind has the similar vastness and the depth of the Manas which lies unflanked and unlimited by the worldly matters. The Manas represents our mind, which is vast and boundless. Our worldly promises trivial attractions, our desires and wishes produce ripples in the form of enormous stimulating waves in this vastness. Our soul, our consciousness plays with these silvery waves- the embodiment of our mind are the swans. The mind is beyond explanation and to understand its reality, is as difficult as it is to know the real depth of Manas. The Manas is an ocean of secrets something which hasn’t been understood- not only now but right through the ages it has been metaphysical. It couldn’t be understood by Deities also.
After trekking for almost five-six hours, we were attracted by comparatively a bigger river ‘Tag Tsangpo’. From a distance, it appeared as if it could be the source of river Brahmaputra, believed to have originated from this holy lake but strangely when we went close and observed the water currents of the river, we found that it wasn’t an outlet but an inlet into the Manas. We crossed over another river possibly called Noapentrochum, dilapidated ruins of ‘Nyagu Gompa’ related to King Aatisha who re-established Buddhism in 11th century and finally reached Chhugo Monastery which is a picturesque place because it is right at the base of Gurla-mandhata peaks whose tops were full of snow presented a glorious and fabulous scene throughout the day. From Chhugu ( Thugolho) to Zaidi the trek is towards north-west bye-passing ‘Gossul Gompa’ and finally managing Zaidi where one performs pooja.
The return journey was very different and much more enjoyable, may be owing to our psychological state, which was now imprinted with new experiences and a sense of achievement. After crossing over Gurla-pass in bus, we stopped at the Samadhi of Gen. Zorawar Singh, who was deeply honoured for his bravery here. The main Samadhi is known as ‘Singhba ka Choten’ and is surrounded by a stone wall.
The Retreat:
It was a cloudless starry early morning, when we boarded the bus and started for our return journey to Lipulekh- pass. The bus stopped at its final point which was around 5kms before the pass. It was still dark outside. We took almost an hour and a half to reach the pass. It was 7.30am when we were standing at an altitude of little over 16500ft. high Lipulekh- pass and witnessing the most touching departing scene. We bid farewell to our Tibetan friends and welcomed members of the next batch and made them acquainted of the experiences we had. Both the batch members were shouting slogans, Har har Mahadev……Bharat mata ki jai……… After 10-15 minutes of interaction we touched our motherland which had all together a different feel. On this side, we were in our country where the sky, the land, the air and the water-everything belonged to us and where we feel free to do things at our will. We literally ran down flying like a bird and blowing like a cloud.
What an experience of this great pilgrimage, unable to be expressed in words?