Damini Pandya, 68, had taken a vow of silence for eight days earlier than she reached the clear, ice-blue waters of the Manasarovar Lake in Tibet. There, the retired authorities officer from Ahmedabad in Gujarat gazed on the majestic snow-capped Kailash mountain within the distance. It had taken her 17 days to get there, strolling for 3 days with low oxygen at a median altitude of about 15,000 ft above sea degree. Breaking into a large smile, she splashed chilly water over her head — a ritual that Hindu pilgrims consider purifies the physique and soul.
Eight days after she started her maun vrat (vow of silence), Pandya crossed into India on the Nathu La Go in Sikkim. Breaking her vow, she stated that the silence had helped her soak up the religious significance of the yatra. “I didn’t utter a phrase for days as a result of I wished to be with god. I broke my vow after I entered India, however I don’t have phrases to explain the cosmic power I felt in Lord Shiva’s abode,” she stated.
Pandya and greater than 30 different yatris spent per week in Tibet’s Ngari prefecture, the place they trekked the 52-km circumference of Mount Kailash, known as the parikrama or the kora.
This was Pandya’s second solo journey after 2019. She entered Tibet by way of the Lipulekh move in Uttarakhand, which, she stated, was a shorter route in comparison with the journey by way of Nathu La move. It might be her final go to to Mount Kailash, because the Chinese language authorities has restricted the yatra to these beneath the age of 70, given the excessive altitude and issues about diseases.
Pilgrims share their experiences after coming back from the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, in Gangtok.
| Picture Credit score:
Ritu Raj Konwar
The youngest member of the group, Arpit Rai, 19, from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, who travelled together with his father Shashikant Rai, 55, stated he’s eager to return to Mount Kailash. “Between Kashi (one other title for Varanasi) and Kailash, Shivji (Lord Shiva) is the frequent issue. Maybe Shivji wished us to go to collectively for the primary time. It was an unforgettable journey regardless of the lengthy journey time in altitudes we’re not used to,” he stated. The yatris travelled for 14 days by bus masking practically 3,000 km and took three days to do the parikrama by foot, masking round 50 km.
Geopolitical issues
Damini Pandya and the Rais have been a part of the primary batch of Indian pilgrims since 2019 who have been allowed to cross into Tibet as a part of the Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra, organised by the Indian Ministry of Exterior Affairs and the Chinese language Ministry of International Affairs.
In 2020, the COVID-19 lockdown; the violent clashes between the Indian Military and the Folks’s Liberation Military at Galwan Valley alongside the Line of Precise Management; and stand-offs at different factors equivalent to Demchok, about 250 km from Kailash Manasarovar, ensured the yatra was suspended. 4 years later, after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese language President Xi Jinping, Delhi and Beijing started discussions on normalising relations and restoring plenty of completely different mechanisms between them. The yatra, held between June and August every year because of climate circumstances, was prioritised, at the same time as different mechanisms, equivalent to direct flights between India and China, are set to restart.
Suman Lata, who lately retired as a faculty trainer in Delhi, stated that whereas crossing over, the group didn’t really feel any of the tensions between the neighbours which have dominated bilateral ties over the previous few years.
“We’ve no hyperlink with politics, so we don’t take into consideration such issues. I can solely say that the Indian authorities despatched us off very properly and the Chinese language authorities has obtained us extraordinarily properly too,” she stated. Lata was among the many 13 ladies on the group. Like her, half of them had come alone on the yatra.
Ladies pilgrims with their certificates after coming back from the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra 2025, in Gangtok.
| Picture Credit score:
Ritu Raj Konwar
For officers on each side, the ultimate go-ahead in February 2025 introduced a frightening job. They needed to construct services alongside the best way in a brief time period. These included reviving immigration posts at numerous entry factors for the yatris, offering relaxation stops, oxygen banks, and medical services. On the hostel in Zhunzhui Pu, close to Taklakot, the place the pilgrims stopped for an evening earlier than starting the Kailash parikrama, additional tents have been arrange contained in the atrium to accommodate extra folks.
This is part of Tibet the place folks stay off subsistence farming. Tourism is the one means of creating a dwelling, native staff stated, including that the resumption of the yatra has come as a reduction for them. In line with the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra web site, yatris who pay about ₹3 lakh for preparations must price range about 990 Renminbi or RMB (₹12,000) to pay the native porters and a pair of,370 RMB (about ₹29,000) for pony handlers. As well as, lots of the porters do odd jobs for the yatris and make some additional money, simply sufficient to get by in the course of the brutal winters.
Through the years when the yatra stood suspended, pilgrims got here in through Nepali tour teams. They included many individuals of Indian origin from the U.S. and the U.Okay. However the yatra, and Indian pilgrims specifically, have been a mainstay for the native staff in Tibet.
Making ready for the journey
In line with an Exterior Affairs Ministry response in Parliament, the variety of pilgrims allowed to hitch the yatra every year, which is negotiated between the overseas ministries of India and China, has fluctuated yearly because the route was reopened in 1981. In 2015, there have been 999 pilgrims. By 2019, there have been 1,364.
Every of the 15 batches of yatris (10 through Nathu-La move and 5 through Lipulekh move) of about 50 pilgrims this time consists of two liaison officers — authorities officers who apply to hitch the yatra; 2-4 cooks; and a medical officer from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Every of the pilgrims is chosen by a computerised lottery. Of about 5,000 candidates, 750 have been chosen this 12 months. They then needed to endure strenuous medical assessments to be proclaimed match to undertake the journey.
Pilgrims pose after finishing the parikrama of Mount Kailash.
| Picture Credit score:
Suhasini Haidar
“Regardless of the acclimatisation for 2 days every at two centres in Sikkim — one at 11,000 ft and the opposite at 13,500 ft — some 30 out of the 33 pilgrims in my batch skilled high-altitude illness and breathlessness at instances,” stated the medical officer, who didn’t wish to be named. “My job was to observe the well being of the pilgrims and be sure that these with hypertension and diabetes take their medicines frequently. A couple of skilled cramps, however they have been too excited by the expertise to let these have an effect on them,” he stated.
One of many cooks, who additionally didn’t want to be named, stated it was a problem to arrange vegetarian meals for folks from so many various components of India. However earlier expertise with the armed forces helped. “When one caters to troopers with completely different acquired tastes from all around the nation, one finds the formulation to make one thing that appeals to everybody. We targeted on pulse-based gadgets and greens offered by the Chinese language authorities,” he stated.
Whereas many pilgrims praised the preparations, some expressed discomfort with the sanitation services alongside the best way. In line with retired Wing Commander of the Indian Air Drive Sadanand Jakhare, they have been “akin to public bathrooms in India”.
He stated, “The Chinese language officers have been hospitable, though restrictive and never very expressive. They declined to allow us to discover the countryside, even somewhat past the designated locations. We have been beneath fixed watch.” Nevertheless, he added that he was “impressed” by the roads and the usage of solar energy that he noticed alongside the best way.
Some folks have been additionally sad concerning the restrictions on worship. Pilgrims usually are not allowed to take a full dip in Manasarovar Lake. Officers stated the apply was discontinued in 2016 after Indian pilgrims have been discovered utilizing cleaning soap to scrub themselves within the lake, and leaving gadgets of clothes and jewelry there.
“The yatra will not be for consolation,” stated Devi Prasad Ketkar, a retired supervisor from Mumbai, who was on the pilgrimage together with his spouse Pradnya.
Ketkar additionally served on the organising committees for the group. “There is no such thing as a place for damaging power or damaging feedback throughout our go to right here… visiting Mount Kailash and doing the parikrama offers us all of the solutions we’d like,” he stated, as others within the group nodded. Because the pilgrims stepped into the waters of Manasarovar Lake, the air was stuffed with chants of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’, ‘Om Parvati Pataye Namah’, and ‘Har Har Mahadev’.
A melange of faiths
In Hindu scriptures, Mount Kailash is believed to be the house of Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati, who stay there with their sons Kartikeya (Muruga) and the elephant-headed god, Ganesha. Lake Manasarovar, the place the gods and goddesses are believed to descend for a shower day by day, was created, in line with the scriptures, by Lord Brahma from part of his mind (manas means thoughts and sarovar means lake in Sanskrit).
With its peak at 6,638 metres (21,778 ft), Mount Kailash has not been summitted in trendy reminiscence. After 2001, the Chinese language authorities banned makes an attempt to climb it because of the spiritual sensitivities of various faiths. Mount Kailash has 4 rock faces (north, south, east, west), with attribute snow ridges on one facet. The options of the mountain are believed to resemble the ‘three eyes’ of Lord Shiva, particularly the tripendra (three strains of ash worn on the brow), and his backbone. This makes it a marvel for pilgrims as they circumambulate the mountain.
Alongside the route, there are devotees of different religions as properly. Buddhists consider that Gautam Buddha’s (Siddhartha’s) mom Maya visited Lake Manasarovar. Additionally they say that Mount Kailash, or Mount Meru as it’s known as, is the supply of religious power on the planet. For Jains, the founding father of the religion Rishabhadeva, often called the primary Tirthankara, is believed to have achieved salvation on the mountain. For followers of the Bon custom, the shamanistic faith that Tibetans adhered to till the sixth century King Songtsen Gampo launched Buddhism, bringing texts from India, the mountain and the lake maintain a particular significance. And for nature-worshippers, Mount Kailash and Manasarovar Lake signify probably the most mysterious of the Himalayan “mountain of mountains” and “supply of all rivers”, with the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus, and different main rivers emanating from these websites.
It’s this melange of faiths that retains travellers occurring the rocky and rugged paths in the direction of the sacred websites. With oxygen ranges on the excessive plateau a major 30% decrease than within the plains, the realm is hard for human habitation. Pilgrims typically want dozes of high-altitude drugs — each allopathic and conventional Tibetan and Chinese language potions constituted of extracts of the herb Rhodiola — in addition to moveable oxygen cannisters to maintain occurring the arduous trek.
Altering temperatures
Whereas the climate is chilly, dry, and harsh the 12 months round, native tour guides and shopkeepers admitted that rising temperatures have change into a priority as properly. Prior to now few years, environmental businesses, together with China’s meteorological authority, have warned about local weather change and international warming within the Tibetan plateau. They’ve stated that there’s a risk of upper temperatures, glacial lakes overflooding, and a thinning of the permafrost, particularly because the Chinese language authorities undertakes main rail, street, and tunnelling infrastructure throughout the plateau.
In 2019, the Indian Ministry of Tradition submitted an utility to UNESCO for ‘Sacred Mountain Panorama and Heritage Routes’, requesting world heritage standing for Kailash Manasarovar-linked areas on the Indian facet, to guard the ecosystem across the holy websites higher. The Ministry additionally stated {that a} comparable train might be carried out on the Chinese language facet. However given safety issues, and the truth that the Pulan airport near Kailash Manasarovar additionally serves as a significant army and air power base, the realm is unlikely to be opened up for the form of scrutiny that worldwide businesses would require.
For the yatris, nonetheless, what counts is the exhilaration of coming near what they consider is the doorway to heaven. Raj and Vinod Yadav, former bankers of their late 60s, stated that they’ve been on the yatra a number of instances. Raj stated that this was her twenty fifth go to to Kailash Manasarovar, whereas her husband Vinod had travelled for the fifth time.
The Yadavs went on their first journey collectively in 2001 after which once more the subsequent 12 months. “The pilgrimage turned an dependancy,” Raj stated. “I saved going yearly, typically thrice a 12 months, by way of all of the routes in India and Nepal, together with through choppers and flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa.”
She is disillusioned that China has restricted the age of pilgrims. “There’s something that retains drawing me to Kailash Manasarovar,” she stated. “I intend to go once more in August through Nepal, two months earlier than I change into ineligible.” She has already began planning for her subsequent and probably final tryst with the sacred mountain and lake that is still a dream for a lot of.
Suhasini Haidar was a part of a delegation of journalists invited by the Embassy of China in India to cowl the primary Kailash Manasarovar Yatra since 2019, whereas Rahul Karmakar reported from Sikkim