Kailash

A 6,638-metre peak in the Tibetan plateau of southwestern China, the source of the four great rivers of South Asia — the Indus, the Sutlej, the Brahmaputra, and the Karnali, a major tributary of the Ganges. Mount Kailash is sacred to four religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and the indigenous Tibetan Bön. For Hindus, the mountain is the abode of Shiva. For Buddhists, it is Mount Meru, the centre of the universe. The mountain has never been climbed, and it will not be.

The peak has been considered for ascent by climbers exactly twice. Reinhold Messner declined a Chinese government permit in the 1980s, stating that the mountain held a meaning that climbing would diminish. A Spanish expedition was granted a permit in 2001 and abandoned the attempt under international religious pressure before climbing began. The Chinese government has not granted permits since. The Indian government, which has substantial influence over Tibetan religious policy through diaspora communities, has been clear that the mountain is closed in perpetuity.

What can be done at Kailash is the kora — the pilgrimage circuit around the base of the mountain. The full circuit is 52 kilometres, takes three days, and crosses one pass at 5,630 metres. Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims walk the kora clockwise. Jain and Bön pilgrims walk it counterclockwise. Some pilgrims complete the circuit by prostrating their full body length at every step — a process that takes three weeks. Tibetans believe a single circuit cleanses the sins of one lifetime; 108 circuits guarantee enlightenment.

The mountain itself is a striking near-perfect dome of dark rock with horizontal striations and a permanent snow cap. The four faces correspond to the cardinal directions. From the northeast, a vertical cleft splits the face — the natural feature that gave rise to the religious cosmology. Kailash is, more than any other mountain in this Atlas, the example of a peak whose meaning exceeds the geological object. The Atlas records the existence of the mountain. The mountain does not record the Atlas.