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Mount Kailash
The unclimbed peak in western Tibet held sacred by four religions
Mount Kailash is not the highest mountain in Asia, or even in its own range, yet few summits matter to more people. Four religions hold it sacred. Hindus revere it as the abode of Shiva, who sits in meditation on its summit with Parvati. Tibetan Buddhists know it as Gang Rinpoche, the Precious Snow Mountain, home of the deity Demchok. Jains believe Rishabhadeva, the first tirthankara, attained liberation here, and followers of Bon, Tibet's older tradition, regard it as the seat of their spiritual power. No one has stood on its summit. Instead, pilgrims walk around it, and the circuit, the kora, is a pilgrimage many of them prepare for over a lifetime.
The mountain rises to 6,638 meters in the Gangdise range of far western Tibet, a remote high plateau north of the main Himalayan chain. Its near-symmetrical pyramid of dark rock, banded by horizontal ledges and capped with snow, has a south face scored by a vertical gully that pilgrims read as a stairway. To the south lie two lakes, Manasarovar, revered by Hindus and Buddhists alike, and the saltier Rakshastal. Four great rivers rise nearby: the Indus, the Sutlej, the Brahmaputra, and the Karnali. The kora begins at the village of Darchen, about 4,670 meters up, and runs some 52 kilometers around the peak, crossing the Drolma La pass at roughly 5,650 meters. Most walkers take three days, while some devout Tibetans complete it in a single day.
Kailash lies in Burang County of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, near the borders of Nepal and India. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains walk the kora clockwise and Bon followers counterclockwise, and Tibetan Buddhists regard a circuit made in the Year of the Horse, which 2026 is, as especially meritorious. Chinese authorities do not permit climbing, and mountaineers have generally deferred to the mountain's sanctity. Access requires Chinese permits. Foreign visitors travel with licensed tour operators, and India's government-organized Kailash Mansarovar Yatra resumed in 2025 after a five-year suspension, offering 1,000 places in 2026 via the Lipulekh and Nathu La passes. Many more pilgrims come through Nepal. Growing numbers, new roads, and waste on the circuit are concerns.