PILGRIMAGE TO KAILASH: The Indian Route - Hardcover

Since times immemorial, Indian renunciates have been going on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. This trek is considered one of the most difficult pilgrimage treks in the world. Merit thus accumulated by undertaking pilgrimage during the year of the Water Horse is considered to be multiplied manifold. In the pre-1959 period, the pilgrimage to Kailash and Manasarovar used to mainly attract sadhus from India. The general public mostly avoided this pilgrimage due to the harsh climate, tough terrain, and lawlessness in the region. However, pilgrimage in present times is largely undertaken by lay people. Not only the governments of India and China but also various local organizations on both sides of the border take interest in this exercise. As a result of this, many changes of far reaching consequences are taking place in the Himalayas. The author has made an attempt in this book to examine the history of the Indian tradition of pilgrimage to Kailash and Manasarovar; the perils and difficulties involved in this pilgrimage; the social, religious, geo-political, and economic factors on both sides of the Sino-Indian border that have affected, and have been affected in turn by this pilgrimage. pp. x + 146 ; Copiously Illustrated ; Bibliography ; Index.