Kailas Manasarovar (A Rare Book)

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It is common knowledge that there has been no authoritative book on Kailas and Manasarovar published in English till 1938. The few guides that were available were either haphazard accounts and not systematically done, or compiled by persons who depended for their information on others, or incorporated hearsay material in their guides.

The author had the privilege of travelling in 1928, for the first time, in Western Tibet on a visit to these Holy places. He went from Srinagar (Kashmir) through Ladakh, Gartok, Gyanima Mandi, round Kailas and Manasarovar, to Taklakot, Khocharnath, Chhakra Mandi, again to Gartok, and back to Rishikesh, by the Gunla-Niti pass.

In 1935 he undertook a second journey from Mukhuva (Gangotri) through Nilang by the Jelukhaga pass, Thuling, Mangnang, Dapa, Dongpu, Sibchilim, Gyanima Mandi, Kailas-Manasarovar, Chhakra Mandi, and back to Gangotri by the Damjan-Niti pass. In 1936-37 and again in 1938 he travelled from Almora by the Lipu Lekh pass and returned by the same route. He had the privilege of staying for a full twelve-month in the Thugolho Monastery on the southern shores of Manasarovar for his spiritual sadhana. In the course of these travels he had opportunities of tracing the 'Four Great Rivers' of this Region, namely the Brahmapurta, the Indus, the Sutlej, and the Karnali, to their sources, of going over the frozen lake of Rakshas Tal from east to west and north to south, and landing on the two islands in it. He visited these regions again in 1939 by the Unta-dhura, Jayanti, and Kungri-bingri passes.

The author has been visiting these places regularly every year and staying there for periods ranging from two to six months; besides, he had occasion to spend a continuous sixteen-month, a second time in 1943-44 on the shores of the Holy Manasarovar at Thugolho. In all, he completed 23 parikramas or circumabulations of the Mount Kailas and 25 of the Lake Manasarovar, of which 7 rounds were done in winter when the surface of the entire Lake was frozen. He collected some fossils from the Ganga Chhu and Thugolho in 1945 and from Bongza range in Central Tibet in 1947. In 1946 he visited the Deserted Cave-City of Pangtha.

He feels confident that with his extensive first-hand knowledge of these regions, he is in a position to render a minute and thorough- going account of these places with special emphasis on all important details likely to be of use and interest to pilgrims and tourists. In his first book 'Pilgrim's Companion to the Holy Kailas and Manasarovar', published in 1938, he endeavoured to present the material in some detail.

Fifteen years ago, when writing my autobiography, the thought of Manasarovar came to me. That thought had been hovering in my mind for many a year. It was something which filled me with de- light and I had worked out many a plan for paying my homage to this wonder Lake of Tibet and snow-covered Kailas nearby. But those plans remained unfulfilled, for my journeys led me elsewhere and I was filled with regret that I would never reach Kailas and Manasarovar. Still the thought of them cheered my mind and I quoted in my book some lines from Walter de la Mare:

"Yea, in my mind these mountains rise, Their perils dyed with evening's rose; And still my ghost sits at my eyes And thirsts for their untroubled snows."

I wonder still if I shall ever visit Kailas and Manasarovar. But I can atleast read about them and look at pictures of them and thus, to some extent, soothe the longing which has possessed me for so long. And so I welcome this book which tells us so much about these mountains that I have loved and this Lake that I have dreamt about. I hope that it will lead others to undertake this journey across our beloved Himalayas to that roof of the world, where Kailas and Manasarovar are situated.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages