TRAVELOGUE – PART 5: KAILASH PARIKRAMA

It was around 10 AM when our trekkers, who planned to walk all the way, left Yam Dwar. In another 15 minutes we were introduced to our horsemen and given basic instructions about riding ponies in this terrain. The saddles were well cushioned, we were made to mount our horses and our foot stirrups were adjusted to a comfortable height. Our porters were

Mount Kailash - Southern face as seen from Yam Dwar

supposed to walk with us and except a water bottle we were allowed to carry nothing with us on the horseback. It was bright and sunny when we left this flat patch of land and crossed a sign-board saying ‘No vehicles beyond this point’ and started trotting towards the Dhirapuk valley. The south face of Mount Kailash was in sight and this alone thrilled our nerves.

Just behind the Yam Dwar is Sky Burial Ground. Tibetans practice three types of rituals after death. The commoners rest their dead on this mountain. The body is scavenged by vultures and other wild animals. Tibetans believe that the body of the dead should come in useful for some other mortals. The ritual reminded me about a similar custom practiced by the Parsi community in India. The second is water burial for certain sections of their community; and finally the elite are offered the funeral pyre or fire burial!

A gompa at the start of our kora

The first landmark we crossed after about 200 meters was a small gompa with strings of prayer flags radiating all around it. Pointing towards it with my finger I enquired what was it and promptly I was given my first lesson in Tibetan ethics – we are not supposed to point our finger but extend our open palm towards a person, place or thing while talking about it. Lesson learned, I was then told that the gompa was very auspicious because pilgrims prayed here for successful and safe completion of the Kailash Kora, before commencing it. The Kora or Parikrama of circumambulation of the Kailas Parvat is about 54 km and is completed in one, two or three days. 

Dhirapuk or Dirapuk, as the Tibetans pronounce it, takes name from word Dira meaning female Yak horn and puk meaning cave. This is a beautiful valley with the Kailash range on

Crossing the La Chu River on our ponies

one side and a gentle stream, the La Chu River flowing down the middle. We went up and down a hilly terrain till we reached this river and we could easily spot our Hyderabadi trio performing puja in the bank of this river. After waving at them and shaking hands we went ahead and crossed the river where it was really shallow. Now we dismounted from our horse and walked across grassland where ponies and Yaks were grazing.  

Local pilgrims accompanying us in the kora

It was a gradual walk with many other local pilgrims chanting and praying and people attaching prayer flags on the flag poles. We were walking along the beautiful rocky cliffs; waterfalls with some clouds in the clear blue sky could be seen at a distance. Karma told me that some Tibetan devotees complete the Kora in one day, walking 15 hours at a stretch, little daunted by the uneven terrain, altitude sickness and harsh conditions faced in the process by the novices like us. Indeed, we saw other pilgrims venture a much more demanding regimen, performing body-length prostrations over the entire length of the

Pilgrims doing kora while crawling and doing body
 length prostration

circumambulation: The pilgrims bent down, knelt, prostrated full-length, made a mark with their fingers, rose to their knees, prayed, and then crawled forward on hands and knees to the mark made by their fingers before repeating the process. It requires at least four weeks of physical endurance to perform the circumambulation while following this regimen. 

Soon Karma met a friend of his Nawang and requested him to take me to Dhirapuk on his pony as he had some urgent work. So this time I mounted a golden brown pony with beautiful manes, crossed the river again and climbed another small hill. Soon the western face of Kailash was to our right. A clear blue sky was a perfect contrast to the white snow capped mountain. We did some photography and off we went all along the La Chu River till we reached our first halt. This was a small settlement of a few families and a few horses and three large tents. These were restaurants which sold some essential commodities as well. Our cooks were already there and they gave us warm water and masala chai and we gorged on some packed food which we were carrying. The trekkers also joined us for a brief rest.

Mount Kailash - Western face

Our tent restaurant on way to Dhirapuk 

My first horseman Karma was also in the tent with his wife and child. They were all eating some dried stuff dipping it in some powder. My enquiry revealed that it was dried Yak meat punched with chili powder! His wife offered me the same but I very politely refused and informed her that Buddhists in my country are vegetarian. Karma told me that Tibetans only eat Yak and no other animal nor fish or even egg. They kill a Yak and use every bit of it – horns for praying, hide for making clothes and covering tents and meat they bury in the ground and from time to time take out the required amounts.

Nuwang was ready with my pony and we again trotted ahead. Ravi, Sudipta and Sharmila were with me on their ponies. Smita too had a pony but refused to ride. The pony was her

Dhirapuk Monastery

insurance policy, only for emergencies! Ponies and trekkers take different routes; ponies stay close to the river bank while trekkers take the beaten track. After three hours of riding and trekking alternately we could see our camp in Dhirapuk. We were explicitly told not to cross the rickety bridge on the river and go to the opposite side towards the Dhirapuk Monastery.

We had a sharp bend to negotiate on a hilly terrain to reach our camp site and Sharmila and Ravi easily crossed it but as Sudipta’s pony was trying to do the same it got a bit naughty and Sudipta slowly slipped off his saddle and hit the ground! Fortunately no damage was done and we were crossing a small stream to reach our camp site. Little did we realize that on our right hand side was the best view of Mount Kailash, the north face!

The beauty of this mountain left us spellbound! It looked like a gigantic snow covered Shivling against a clear blue sky in the background and it was greeting us! The mountain itself appears like a great symmetrical domed temple coated with ice and snow, shining white and dominating the landscape in all directions around it. Three lesser mountains are arrayed in front of Mount Kailash: Chana Dorje (Vajrapani) to the west, Jampelyang (Manjushree) to the east and Chenresig (Avlokiteshwara) in the centre but Mount Kailash stands taller than all of them. Between the first and the third an hour walk leads to Kangkyam glacier

Mount Kailash - North face

Shudipta, Smita, Ravi, Rajive and Karma all excited to have the best view of Kailash

Mount Kailas is revered in Sanskrit literature as the abode of the all-blissful Lord Shiva and his divine spouse Parvati. The mountain is unique in that it rises up from the highest point of the Tibetan Plateau, like the hub of a giant wheel. From this hub four mighty rivers form and flow in four different directions like spokes radiating outward from the hub of the wheel. Unlike the range of Himalayan peaks to the south, Kailas stands isolated on the Tibetan highland so that the pilgrim can walk around it. They would never dream of desecrating the home of the Gods by setting foot on the mountain, much less attempting to climb to the summit. Hindus consider Mt Kailash to be the earthly manifestation of Mt. Meru, their spiritual centre of the universe. Kailash is decribed as a pillar whose roots are in deepest hell and its summit kissing the heaven above. It is 6,740 meters high and forms the peak of the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains), which forms part of the mighty Himalayas. 

Mount Kailash - a close up

Our horseman told us that Tibetans have a different name for Mount Kailash. They call it Kang Rinpoche or "the precious jewel of the snow" It’s said that from four faces of Kailash flows a river that finally flows in all 4 cardinal directions. Strangely enough 4 major rivers do originate around Kailash

North: - River Of Lion Mouth - Indus
East: - River Of Horse Mouth - Sutlej
South: - River Of Peacock Mouth - Karnali
West: - River Of Elephant Mouth - Brahmaputra or Yarlong Tsangpo

While we were appreciating the beauty of Kailash our cooks were ready with tea and snacks. The Hyderabadi trio had already joined us in the camp. We were told that this camp was of Isha Foundation of Satguru. We were on one side of the La Chu River and Dirapuk Monastery was on the other side bang opposite our camp. It sits in a superb location on the hillside, north of the river and had golden turrets shining in the afternoon sun. Sri, Shyam and Ghule braved the cold and meditated out in the open, facing Mount Kailash. Bhaskar, Venu and Shyamsunder trekked towards the mountain, along a valley between two smaller mountains in front of it.

As the night fell the temperature dipped precariously. Kailash bathing in moonlight looked majestic and the clear sky overhead looked like a dark cloak with countless stars studded in it. The night was very cold. Sudipta, Ravi, Rajiv and I were in one room and despite sleeping fully dressed and under two quilts it was easily the coldest night I had ever spent outdoors! Tanmay had some uneasiness with his breathing and Sharmila experienced some nausea. The news that two Chinese climbers had lost their lives in the previous two days while trekking from Dhirapuk to Zuthulpuk too did not go down very well with us.

Next morning four of us chose to return to Yam Dwar and Lopsang la was informed accordingly to have them picked up. The rest of us after an early breakfast left for Zuthulpuk and from there to Dharchen. Karma, our guide, told us that we would need to walk for 22 Kms. 14 of which would be a steep climb. Our next lesson in horse riding was now offered – bend in front when the pony is climbing and bend backwards when it is going downhill. We were walking through the glacial morass - desolate and breathtaking slopes and sights but within 30 minutes of our leaving Dhirapuk camp tragedy struck. Smita could not mount her pony as it was behaving strangely. Ravi and Smita were asked to interchange their ponies. As Ravi tried to mount Smita’s pony it suddenly took off with Ravi’s foot still stuck to its stirrup. Ravi ended up injuring his left knee badly and had to return to Yam Dwar in his own horse. Smita was too scared to mount her horse after this unfortunate episode.

Dormala pass

The long ascent up the Drolma Chu valley led us to the Drolma-la Pass.  It took us 4 hours to reach the highest point of our journey. The Pass is at 5610 meters or 18,450 ft ……more than 60% of the height of Mount Everest!  At the summit, the entire pass was covered with strings of coloured pieces of cloth with some inscriptions on it. Tibetan devotees tie these strings to please their Gods. They chant some hymns as they tie the strings. Reaching Dormala pass was an exhilarating experience – it was cold and windy but sunny too. We stopped for a while just taking in the view but were soon herded downhill by Karma – as staying there for more than 5 minutes could be dangerous as the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere here is very low. Fortunately none of us had any altitude sickness.

Most of the journey thereafter was downhill save for a few uphill climbs. Little further down from Dormala Pass we came across Gauri Kund, a lake is believed to have waters with mystical powers. The sight of Gauri kund was breathtaking – clear green water. This place is

Gauri Kund

also associated with the legend of how Ganesha acquired his elephant head. While bathing in the kund, Goddess Parvati fashioned Ganesha from the soap suds on Her body, breathed life into Him and placed Him at the entrance as Her guard. Lord Shiva happened to arrive at the spot and He was stopped by Ganesha. Indignant at this affront, Shiva cut off Ganesha's head and Parvati was inconsolable. She insisted that the boy be brought back to life and Shiva took the head of a wandering elephant and placed it on Ganesha's body. Parvati had Her son back and Ganesha acquired the persona by which He is known all over the world since then.

The downhill journey was very pleasant and picturesque but tough on our knees. The ponies are safe to climb but on downhill course we have to trek down by foot. We were on a narrow path on the edge of a mountain overlooking a gushing mountain stream. We stopped for lunch at around 2 PM and continued our journey towards Zuthulpuk. 

We started arriving in Zuthulpuk at 5 PM. This campsite was made up of a few tents only. The tent where we had tea in Zuthulpuk was very comfortable – and chai and fried rice made it more so. Since we were going to complete the kora in two days and people were already dead tired, we were trying to figure out a way to get Lopsang la to have us picked from Zuthulpuk. There was a challenge since only emergency evacuation was allowed from Zuthulpuck and the cost of that was 3000 Yuans for a jeep with two evacuees.  We obviously did not want to pay that amount. Lopsang had earlier assured us that he will get us picked us from a point 4 Kms after Zuthulpuk but we were too tired to walk any further.

Kora completed - Southery face of Mt. Kailash
from Dharchen

Finally Lopsang did come through with a plan. I don’t know what he did – but we didn’t have to pay anything. Four of us were taken in a jeep at a time. There was still a thrill left to experience. We had to cross a police check post and since only two people were supposed to be traveling as passengers (evacuees) – the other two had to huddle in the luggage compartment of the jeep to avoid detection. The fact that the windows were so dirty (from the dust) – helped in this great escape! We arrived in Darchen at 7 PM, dog tired but thrilled at having completed the parikrama in two days!