followers of Mi la ras pa, principally members of the
’Brug pa and ’Bri gung Bka’ brgyud sects, who traveled
in great numbers to meditate there.
Pilgrims from all quarters of the Tibetan Buddhist
world continue to visit Mount Kailas ́a, many remain-
ing in residence for an entire season. Their primary
practice is completing the arduous thirty-two mile
clockwise circumambulation route around the moun-
tain, often undertaken in a single eighteen-hour day of
walking. (Bon pilgrims make the identical circuit in a
counterclockwise direction.) Traditional pilgrimage
guide books describe a complex array of sacred ele-
ments inscribed within the landscape around the
mountain, as well as specific religious practices to be
undertaken at various points along the trail.
See also:Space, Sacred
Bibliography
Allen, Charles. A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas
and the Sources of the Great Rivers of India.London: André
Deutsch, 1982.
Chang, Garma C. C., ed. and trans. The Hundred Thousand
Songs of Milarepa.New Hyde Park, NY: University Books,- Reprint, Boston: Shambhala, 1999.
Huber, Toni. “Where Exactly Are Carita, Devikota, and Hima-
vat? A Sacred Geography Controversy and the Development
of Tantric Buddhist Pilgrimage Sites in Tibet.” Kailash16,
nos. 3–4 (1990): 121–164.
Huber, Toni, and Rigzin, Tsepak. “A Tibetan Guide for Pil-
grimage to Ti-se (Mount Kailas) and mTsho Ma-pham (Lake
Manasarovar).” In Sacred Spaces and Powerful Places in Ti-
betan Culture: A Collection of Essays,ed. Toni Huber.
Dharamsala, India: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives,
Ricard, Mathhieu, ed. and trans. “At Mt. Kailash.” In The Life
of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin.Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1994.
ANDREWQUINTMANKALACAKRAThe Kalacakra Tantra (Tibetan, Dus kyi ‘khor lo’i
rgyud; Wheel of Time, System of Mysticism) is the mostKALACAKRA
Kailas ́a (Mount Kailash) in southwestern Tibet, the goal of many pilgrimages, is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus. © Galen
Rowell/Corbis. Reproduced by permission.