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Mt.
Kailash (6714m.),
Asia’s most sacred mountain is located in a high and isolated
enclave of west Tibet. It is one of three Pilgrimage sites in the
area, known collectively as Kangri
Tsosum; the other two are Pönri Ngaden and Lake Manasarovar.
All are said to be at the heart of ancient Shangshaung
Kingdom, the supposed land of origin per-Buddhist Bönpos.  Mt.
Kailash is their soul mountain (Lari), which they also call
Yungdrung Gu Tse, the Nine-story Swastika Mountain. This is the very
place where the sect’s legendary founder, Tönpa Shenrab descended
from heaven to earth.
Sacred
lake manasarover
(4588m.)
is located in western Tibet between Mt. Kailash (6714m.) and the
Gurla Mandhata Range (Memo Nani, 7694m.). For Hindus, Manasarovar
floats beneath the shadow of holy Kailash as the lake formed in the
mind of god. It was created to show the omnipotence of Brahma’s
mind, Manas. Tibetans know it as Mapham Tso, “the unconquerable
lake”. In any language, this is the holiest, most famous lake in
Asia. The Hindu poet, Kalidasa, wrote in the third century
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