Mount Kailash holds sacred significance for four religious traditions
Massive floods along the Nepal-China border have left at least 168 people dead and displaced hundreds across the Himalayan region, the Associated Press reported. Among the nearly 1,300 people reported missing, more than 100 were on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a sacred site in the Himalayas.
The AP account frames the disaster’s toll against the mountain’s centuries-old role as a destination drawing spiritual travelers from across Asia. More than 100 of those missing were among such travelers when the floods struck.
Mount Kailash sits in southwestern Tibet, near where China’s borders meet those of Nepal and India. The peak rises more than 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) above sea level and lies close to Lake Manasarovar, the AP reported. Both the mountain and the lake have featured in Sanskrit religious and literary traditions for centuries.
The mountain holds sacred significance for four religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the Tibetan Bon tradition. Each tradition associates the peak with different beliefs and sacred histories, according to the AP.
In Hindu tradition specifically, Mount Kailash is considered the home of Shiva, the god of destruction, and Parvati, a goddess associated with marriage, fertility and motherhood. That description comes from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, an intergovernmental research body studying the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
The flood’s impact on the pilgrim cohort — more than 100 of the nearly 1,300 missing — forms part of the wider humanitarian toll across the Himalayan region. The disaster has displaced hundreds on both sides of the Nepal-China border, compounding the loss of life the AP reported.