Mount Kailas is the place where the god
Shivamakes his home. For both Hindus
and Buddhists, the central act of pil-
grimage to Kailas is to walk around the
mountain, thus symbolically traversing
the entire earth. The journey begins at
Manasarovar, a lake near the moun-
tain’s base, which in Hindu mythology is
esteemed as the lake of the gods. Many
factors combine to make the sixty-five-
mile circuit an extremely difficult jour-
ney: The area is extremely remote, the
climate is harsh and unforgiving even in
June (the customary pilgrimage time),
and the circuit itself is physically strenu-
ous, with its highest point over 19,000
feet above sea level. Storms can suddenly
arise at any time of the year, and pil-
grims who are unprepared can easily die
of exposure. Given these difficulties, rel-
atively few people perform this pilgrim-
age; it raises the status of those who do.
For many years Chinese prohibitionson
travel in Tibet made it impossible for
people to undertake this pilgrimage.
Since the early 1990s these rules have
been relaxed and small groups of reli-
gious pilgrims are again making the
sacred journey.
Kailasanatha
The largest and most famous of the
rock-cut temples at Ellorain the state of
Maharashtra; the temple is dedicated to
the god Shivain his form as the “Lord of
Mount Kailas.” The temple was con-
structed late in the eighth century by
kings of the Rashtrakuta dynasty and
completed during the reign of Krishna I.
The Kailasanatha temple is modeled
after other contemporary temples: its
main elements are an outer gateway, an
assembly hall, and a central shrine
(garbhagrha) surrounded by a proces-
sional path (pradakshina) to smaller
shrines. It is set on a high platform base
topped with a ninety-six-foot-high spire
representing Mount Kailas in the
Himalayasand covered with decorative
carving. The amazing point about this
temple is that the entire structure is a
sculpture—workers carved it out of a
single rock outcropping, starting at the
top and working down. It is estimated
that during construction, the builders
had to remove three million cubic feet of
stone from the temple and the excavated
courtyards surrounding it. See also
caves, artificial.Kaitabha
In Hindu mythology, one of two demons
who attempt to kill the god Brahma(the
other is Madhu). The story is recounted
in several mythic sources, with some
important differences among them. All
versions agree that Madhu and Kaitabha
are born from the god Vishnu’searwax
during the period of cosmic dissolution
(pralaya). As the creation of the world
begins, a lotus sprouts from Vishnu’s
navel. It opens to reveal the creator-god,
Brahma, who is immediately attacked
by Madhu and Kaitabha. In all versions
of the myth, Brahma appeals for help.
Vishnu tricks the demons (who are
strong but not too bright) and slays
them. The difference comes in the deity
to whom Brahma appeals for help. The
story first appears in the mythology of
Vishnu; here Brahma invokes that deity.
Yet this same story also appears in the
Devimahatmya, the earliest mythic
source for the cult of the Mother
Goddessas the supreme divine power.
In this version, Brahma’s hymn of praise
is to the Goddess, who in her form as
Yoganidra(“sleep of yoga”) has lulled
Vishnu into a cosmic stupor, rendering
him unable to come to Brahma’s aid.
Pleased by Brahma’s praise, the Goddess
withdraws her influence over Vishnu; he
awakens and slays the demons.Kaivalya
(“isolation”) In Samkhyaand Yoga, two
of the six schoolsof Hindu philosophy,
kaivalya is the state of final liberation. A
person who has attained kaivalya has
fully comprehended the difference
between two important principles: the
conscious but inert purusha, which is
identified as the Self, and the active butKaivalya