Scientists are still arguing about the history of this amazing mountain. Is Kailash an artificially created pyramid or a mountain of natural origin? Today there is no reliable information about this, as well as how many years ago Kailash was born and why it has the shape of a pyramid, the edges of which accurately indicate parts of the world. It is also surprising and inexplicable that the height of the mountain is 6666 m, the distance from Kailash to the Stonehenge monument is 6666 km, and the same to the North Pole, and to the South Pole – 13,332 km (6666 * 2).

Kailash is a place shrouded in thousands of secrets and legends. And until now, the top of the sacred mountain has not been conquered by anyone. Kailash does not allow mere mortals to reach the peak, where according to legend the gods live. Many tried against all odds to climb there. But no one was able to overcome the invisible wall, which, as would-be travelers claim, arose on their way, preventing them from reaching the sacred peak. Kailash seems to push them away, allowing only those who really believe to perform ritual kora.

4 begin from Kailash greatest rivers Asia, possessing powerful energies. It is believed that when a person circumambulates Kailash, he comes into contact with this power. Kailash is a very powerful center of power. It carries the energy of dissolving everything old. The one who does kora is filled with energy and vitality to help people.

It is a custom to circumambulate Kailash. A custom of faith that contains enormous power. In Kailash they say that the one who goes through the kora with faith and a feeling of unity with God gains special divine power here.

The large kora around Kailash takes 2-3 days. Throughout the entire journey, a person passes through the strongest energy centers where divine flows are felt. Kailash is like a temple. All stones on the path have a certain charge. Pilgrims believe that demigods or supreme souls live in the stones. According to ancient legends, many divine beings who visited here once turned into stones. And now these stones have special divine power.

The first day of the kora is anticipation, lightness, elation. On the second day, the highest and most difficult pass is the Death Pass. They say that during this period one can experience the experience of death. For example, a person may fall and go into a trance. Many people say that during such a trance they felt their body at the very top of Kailash.

The Drolma-la pass symbolizes new birth. People try to leave something personal in this place. It is believed that this is how a person clears his karma. This is a symbol of leaving the past, a certain dark, negative part of the soul. Having thrown off everything unnecessary at this pass, it becomes easier and freer to go further.

Around Kailash you can go either along the outer circle - the large one, or along the small one - the inner one. Only those who have walked around the outer one 13 times are allowed to enter the inner one. They say that if one immediately goes there, the high divine energy will block the person’s path.

There are beautiful lakes on the inner crust, the water in them is sacred. On the shores of these lakes there is a monastery. People believe that the enlightened still live there. And if someone is lucky enough to meet them, he will be blessed.

When a pilgrim passes the kora, he turns to higher powers and addresses them with prayer. Kailash is the symbol of the supreme deity. And the external journey to Kailash is actually an internal journey to one’s deity.

There is a belief that the god Shiva lives on Kailash. For Hindus, Shiva is a force and energy capable of creating and destroying worlds. They believe that there are three main forces in the universe: creation, maintenance and destruction. The power of Shiva is the connection with universal energy.

On the way of a wanderer, obstacles often appear, both physical and spiritual. Kailash tests a person’s strength and points out weaknesses. Overcoming all difficulties in pilgrimage is the best way to purify and change.

When a pilgrim leaves Kailash and descends lower, he understands that he doesn’t need much to be happy. We have air that we can breathe, we have food, a roof over our heads - and this is enough for external material happiness, everything else must be sought within.

For hundreds of years people have been coming here and bringing prayer into their hearts. Lake Manasarovar, like Kailash, is revered as sacred. To his right is the peak of Gurla Mandhata. According to legend, she was a king in a past life. Then there was no water here and the king began to pray. One day, God heard his prayers and created a lake from his mind. This lake is the sacred Lake Manasarovar.

Another lake near Kailash, called Rakshas Tal, is considered cursed. It is separated from the sacred lake by a narrow isthmus. Surprisingly, with such a close location, these two bodies of water have huge differences. You can take a dip in the sacred lake, there is fish there and you can drink the water from it. The water in this lake is fresh and is considered healing. Lake Rakshas Tal, on the contrary, is salty and you cannot plunge into it. And places where there is a source with dead and living water nearby have been considered places of power since ancient times.

Kailash also has another sacred lake - Gaurikund. According to legend, it was created by Shiva for his wife Parvati. She helped people a lot, which left her body very exhausted. Having bathed in this lake, Parvati acquired a new body, and since then no one else can touch its sacred waters. There are many legends about the death of people who touched Gaurikund Lake.

There are 4 caves in the vicinity of Kailash. One of them, Milarepa's cave, is located southeast of Kailash next to the sacred path. According to legend, the great yogi Milarepa placed two stone blocks at the entrance of the cave, on which he installed a huge granite slab. This slab cannot be moved by hundreds or even thousands of people. And Milarepa carved it out of granite and laid it with the help of his spiritual power. And it was in this place that he achieved his enlightenment.

There is a legend that Milarepa and the Bonn priest Naro Bonchung fought for power over Kailash. During the first confrontation between supernatural forces on Lake Manasarovar, Milarepa stretched his body across the surface of the lake, and Naro Bonchung stood on water surface above. Not satisfied with the results, they continued the fight by running around Kailash. Milarepa moved clockwise, and Naro Bonchung moved counterclockwise. Having met at the top of the Dolma-la pass, they continued the magical battle, but again to no avail. Then Naro Bonchung suggested climbing to the top of Kailash on the day of the full moon immediately after dawn. Whoever rises first will win. On the appointed day, Naro Bonchung, riding his shamanic drum, flew to the top. Milarepa was resting calmly below. And as soon as the first rays of the sun reached the peak of Kailash, Milarepa grabbed one of the rays and instantly reached the top, gaining power over sacred mountain.

Kailash has prayer flags hanging everywhere. These are protective symbols. People hang them to achieve success in some good endeavors. These flags are also called "Wind Horses". The symbol of prayer flags is a horse carrying a jewel on its back. It is believed that it fulfills wishes, brings well-being and prosperity. The flags are made of five primary colors, symbolizing the five elements of the human body. Mantras are applied to them, which are activated upon contact with the wind and carry encrypted messages throughout the world.

Kailash is a place of spiritual power that awakens believers and purifies their minds. People flock here to say the prayer that everyone carries in their hearts. It is believed that the one who makes this pilgrimage will be cleansed of all his sins and learn the secret of the universe.

Films about the secrets and mysteries of the sacred Mount Kailash:

Mount Kailash is a mysterious and incomprehensible secret of Tibet, a place that attracts thousands of religious pilgrims and tourists. The highest in its region, surrounded by the sacred lakes Manasarovar and Rakshas (living and dead water), the peak, unconquered by any climber, is worth seeing with your own eyes at least once in your life.

Where is Mount Kailash?

The exact coordinates are 31.066667, 81.3125, Kailash is located in the south of the Tibetan Plateau and separates the basins of the four main rivers of Asia, water from its glaciers flows into Lake Langa Tso. Photo high resolution from a satellite or airplane they resemble an eight-petaled flower of regular shape; on the map it does not differ from the neighboring ridges, but significantly exceeds them in height.

The answer to the question: what is the height of the mountain is disputed, the range called by scientists is from 6638 to 6890 m. On the southern slope of the mountain there are two deep perpendicular cracks, their shadows form the outline of a swastika at sunset.

Mount Kailash is mentioned in all ancient myths and religious texts of Asia, it is recognized as sacred among four religions:

• Hindus believe that at its peak is the favorite abode of Shiva; in the Vishnu Purana it is indicated as the city of the gods and the cosmic center of the Universe.
• In Buddhism, it is the seat of the Buddha, the heart of the world and the place of power.
• Jains worship the mountain as the place where Mahavira, their first prophet and greatest saint, gained true insight and interrupted samsara.
• The Bon people call the mountain a place of concentration of vitality, the center of an ancient country and the soul of their traditions. Unlike believers of the first three religions, who make a kora (purifying pilgrimage) after sun exposure, Bon followers go towards the sun.

Parascientific concepts about Kailash

The mystery of Kailas worries not only scientists, but also lovers of mysticism and transcendental knowledge, historians searching for traces of ancient civilizations. The ideas put forward are very bold and bright, for example:

• The mountain and its surroundings are called a system of ancient pyramids destroyed over time. Supporters of this version note a clear step pattern (9 ledges in total) and the correct location of the faces of the mountain, almost exactly coinciding with the cardinal points, like the complexes in Egypt and Mexico.
• E. Muldashev's theory about the stone mirrors of Kailash, the gates to another world and the artifacts of ancient humanity hidden inside the mountain. According to him, this is an artificially constructed, hollow inside object with an original height of 6666 m, the concave sides of which bend time and hide the passage to a parallel reality.
• Legends about the sarcophagus hiding the gene pool of Christ, Buddha, Confucius, Zarathustra, Krishna and other teachers of antiquity.

Stories of climbing Kailash

It is pointless to ask the question “who conquered Kailash”; due to religious reasons, the indigenous people did not attempt to conquer the peak; all officially registered expeditions with this focus belong to foreign climbers. Like other pyramid-shaped ice-covered mountains, Kailash is difficult to climb, but the main problem is the protest of believers.

Having difficulty obtaining permission from the authorities in 2000 and 2002, the Spanish groups did not go further than the camp set up at the foot of the camp; in 2004, Russian enthusiasts tried to make the climb without high-altitude equipment, but returned due to unfavorable weather. Currently, such ascents are prohibited at the official level, including UNN.

Trekking around Kailash

Many companies offer the service of delivery to the starting point of the bark - Darchen and accompanying a guide. The pilgrimage takes up to 3 days, crossing the most difficult section (Dolma Pass) – up to 5 hours. During this time, the pilgrim walks 53 km; after completing 13 circles, passage to the inner ring of the kora is allowed.

Those wishing to visit this place should remember not only good physical fitness, but also the need for a permit - a kind of group visa to visit Tibet; registration takes 2-3 weeks. The policy pursued by China has led to the fact that it is almost impossible to get to Mount Kailash on your own; individual visas are not issued. But there is also a plus: the more people in the group, the cheaper the tour and travel will cost.

Near Mount Kailash, travelers experience completely new sensations that they did not know before. Some people feel good and it seems as if they are surrounded by the most beautiful place on earth, they are no longer afraid of anything, for others the surrounding place begins to frighten them and seem to push them away, many are speechless. Someone says that if you ask a question that worries you not far from this mountain, you will be able to solve it easily and in a non-standard way.

Mythical Frontier

For representatives of Buddhism and Hinduism, there has been a sacred mountain in Tibet for several centuries - Kailash. At night, when the peak is shrouded in clouds, you can notice how a light white light pours from the very high point down. Some tourists describe luminous figures on the slopes of the mountain, similar to the swastika symbol. Sometimes at dusk, strange luminous balls are noticed above the mountain, which vaguely resemble ball lightning. But these balls draw strange signs in the air.

Recently, in addition to pilgrims, dozens of expeditions have been flocking to the mountain, people dreaming of conquering the snowy peak. However, something special happens to each of them: a mythical line appears in front of someone, which he cannot cross, no matter how much he wants to. For others, as soon as they touch the mountain, their palms become covered with blisters.

Amazing and geographical position Mount Kailash: it is 6666 km away from the North Pole, the distance from the South Pole to the foot of the mountain is twice that, but Stonehenge is also 6666 km.

However, physically the mountain rarely resists climbers; avalanches and rockfalls are rare here. Nevertheless, all tourists of their own free will refuse to climb up literally after 300-400 meters. Only the most outcast people can be near the sacred mountain.

The Legend of the "Stone Mirrors"

Even in planes flying over Kailash, equipment stops working, compass needles spin in different directions. On a diagram of a mountain, so-called stone mirrors are often drawn on each side, which change the course of time, concentrating energy differently than on the ground.

However, there is a sacred road along the mountain that can be reached. There is a legend that tells of two travelers who turned off the sacred road while climbing Mount Kailash; after returning to their village, in just a few months, the young people aged 60 years and died. Doctors then could not find any visible reason for this withering.

Recently, thanks to experiments, it was revealed that in 12 hours at Mount Kailash, people’s nails and hair grow as much as they would grow under normal conditions for two to three weeks.

Near the foot of the mountain is the “Heavenly Cemetery”, where the corpses of Tibetans are carried out so that their bodies are eaten by vultures. Such a funeral is considered favorable for the soul of the deceased.

The first group to Kailash is being recruited in 2020: in addition to the crust around Kailash, you will see the North Face of Everest, beautiful lakes, the Ancient Kingdom of Guge, the Garuda Valley and rarely visited ancient cave complexes in Western Tibet - Dungkar and Piyang. Route . Arrival in Lhasa on April 26, 2020. Unique tour to Kailash Kora with a Russian guide! Join us!

Mount Kailash (Kailash) - Jewel of the Snows, the center of the universe, the abode of Shiva and Buddha Shakyamuni in the guise of the wrathful deity Chakrasamvara, the patron of one of the highest tantras of Vajrayana Buddhism. There is a belief that if you walk around the sacred mountain 108 times, you can achieve enlightenment.

Kailash has attracted ascetics, yogis and pilgrims for many centuries. Nowadays, more and more people are interested in traveling to this peak. And it’s not just the unusual tetrahedral shape of the mountain, reminiscent of an artificially built pyramid, but rather the fact that Kailash is a shrine for millions of representatives of four religions: Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Bonpos. Every year, thousands of pilgrims make a sacred circumambulation around Kailash, offering prayers and performing religious practices.

Geography

Mount Kailash is located in the Tibetan province of Ngari in Western Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Kailash is one of the peaks in the Gandhisa mountain system (冈底斯山脉pinyin: gangdisi shanmai), located in the south of the Tibetan Plateau and running almost parallel to the Himalayas.

Kailash is the highest mountain peak in its area (6714 meters / according to other sources 6638 meters), which also differs in appearance from neighboring mountains with its tetrahedral pyramidal shape, oriented to the four cardinal directions. In the Kailash region, the four main rivers of Tibet, India and Nepal originate and spread to the cardinal points: the Brahmaputra in the east, the Indus in the north, the Sutlej in the west, and the Karnali (a tributary of the Ganges River) in the south.

Name

Kailash is known by many names. The most common name in Russian Kailash is the name of the sacred mountain in Sanskrit. It is also quite common to write Kailash.

So which is correct: Kailash or Kailash? - Both options are correct, since both spellings are found in ancient Indian texts - both with the sound “s” at the end and with the sound “sh”:

• कैलाश Kailāśa (“Kailasha”) and केलास Kailāsa (“Kailasa”). It should be noted that modern India now says "Kailash", while "Kailas" is perhaps a more authentic name, for such a spelling is found in the ancient Indian epic "Mahabharata".
• In Tibet, the most popular name for the peak is Kang Rinpoche(གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ wylie: gangs rinpoche), which translated means “Snow Jewel” or “Precious Snow Peak”. In classical texts the peak is called Kang Tise(གངས་ཏི་སེ wylie: gangs tise) or simply Tise (ཏི་སེ wylie:tise).
• Followers of the pre-Buddhist Bon religion of Tibet call this sacred mountain Yundrung Gutsek (གཡུང་དྲུང་དགུ་བརྩེགས wylie: gyung drung dgu brtsegs), which translated means “Nine-Storied Swastika Mountain "
• IN English language the most common name for a peak isKailash, originating from Sanskrit.
• The Chinese names for Kailash are derived from the Tibetan ones: Gan Renboqi(冈仁波齐 pinyin: gang renboqi) from the Tibetan name Kang Rinpoche and Gandhisishan(冈底斯山 pinyin: gangdisi shan) from Tibetan Kang Tise. Also, Kailash in Chinese is popularly called simply “sacred peak” - Shenshan(神山 pinyin: shenshan).

Kailash in world religions

Mount Kailash is sacred to representatives of four religions: Buddhism, Bon, Hinduism and Jainism. For Buddhists, Kailash is the abode of Shakyamuni Buddha in his wrathful form. For Hindus, it is the abode of Shiva, the destroyer of illusions. For Jains, Kailash is sacred as the place where their first saint, Adinatha, achieved enlightenment. Followers of the Bon religion believe that from here the founder of the religion, Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, descended from heaven to earth.

Despite the fact that believers of these four religions have different interpretations of the significance of Kailash, they all consider this peak to be the most sacred place, the “heart of the world,” the axis of the universe (Latin axis mundi), connecting heaven and earth, through which a practitioner can contact higher powers.

Kailash in Buddhism

For Tibetan Buddhists, Kailash is the abode of Shakyamuni Buddha in the form of the wrathful deity Korlo Demchog (འཁོར་ལོ་བདེ་མཆོག་ wylie: ‘khorlo bde mchog) or Chakrasamvara in Sanskrit. Demchok is depicted in conjunction with the spiritual consort Dorje Pakmo (རྡོ་རྗེ་ཕག་མོ wylie: rdo rje phag mo) or Vajravarahi. Their union is a symbol of the unity of emptiness and bliss (བདེ་སྟོང་དབྱེར་མེད wylie: bde stong dbyer med). Diligent spiritual practice is the only way to know this symbol.

For Buddhist followers of the Lesser Vehicle (Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, etc.), Kailash is a place that Buddha Shakyamuni himself sanctified along with 500 arhats, emanating himself in the Kailash area.

After Shakyamuni Buddha, Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, an 8th century AD Buddhist master revered as the second Buddha, meditated here. He left behind terma treasures in the rocks around Kailash.

Three centuries later, Milarepa, a famous Tibetan meditation master, hermit, mystic and poet, meditated here. Despite the rapid spread of Buddhism in Tibet since the 8th century, Kailash and the surrounding area remained a place especially revered by followers of the Bon religion. But after Milarepa, the secrets of Kailash were also revealed to Tibetan Buddhists. Having achieved spiritual realization, Milarepa and his disciples went to Western Tibet to the places of Buddha Shakyamuni. Arriving in the Kailash region, he met a Bon master named Naro Bonchung. A dispute arose between them over dominance in the Kailash region, which they agreed to resolve through competition using siddhis - supernatural powers. The first competition was on Lake Manasarovar near Kailash: Milarepa stretched his entire body across the surface of the lake, and Naro Bonchung stood on the surface of the water from above. Not satisfied with the results, they continued the competition by running around Kailash: Milarepa ran clockwise and Naro Bonchung counterclockwise. Having met at the top of the Dolma la pass near northern slope Kailasa, they continued the magical battle, but again they could not decide who the winner was. Then Naro Bonchung proposed the following competition: whoever climbs to the top of Kailash on the day of the full moon immediately after dawn will be the winner. On the appointed day, Naro Bonchung, riding his shamanic drum, flew to the top of Kailash. Milarepa rested calmly below, causing his disciples to worry. But as soon as the first rays of the sun reached the peak of Kailash, Milarepa grabbed one of the rays and instantly reached the sacred peak. Naro Bonchung was stunned and fell from his drum. Thus, Milarepa won and the followers of the Bon religion lost control of the region, moving their spiritual center from Kailash to Mount Bonri east of Lhasa.

Since then, and right up to the present day, Mount Kailash has been sacred both to Tibetan Buddhists and, in particular, to adherents of the Kagyu school, to which Milarepa belonged. But followers of the Bon religion continue to revere this peak. So, Buddhists make a pilgrimage around Kailash clockwise, and Bon followers counterclockwise.

In the 13th century, Master Gotsangpa discovered the magical powers of Kailash for adherents of the Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. He also spent 5 years meditating at the Dirapuk Monastery, located before the Dolma la pass opposite the northern elephant of Kailash. Therefore, to this day, this monastery, Kailash and all the surrounding areas of the peak are especially revered by adherents of the Drukpa Kagyu school.

Although there are many sacred peaks in Tibet, only the Kailash region is a powerful and comprehensive mandala, where every peak and every hill is the abode of one or another deity, where every cleft in the rocks was a place of meditation for hermits. Nowhere else are there so many places of power with self-manifested symbols of the path to enlightenment.

Kailash in Bon religion

bon symbol

The founder of the Bon religion was named Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche. He lived about thirty thousand years ago in the spiritually perfect place of Olmo Lung Ring, where only enlightened beings could enter. According to the surviving descriptions, this place looked like a mixture of ideas about the mystical land of Shablale, Mount Kailash and Mount Meru. Despite the fact that Olmo Lung Ring is a magical place, according to some sources it was located in the territory of the country of Tazik to the west of the kingdom of Shang Shung in Western Tibet. In the center of Omolungring there was the sacred peak of Yundrung Gutsek - the “Nine-Storey Swastika Mountain”, symbolizing the “Nine Paths of Bon”, from where Tonpa Shenrab descended into the world of people. At the foot of the mountain, four great rivers originated, spreading in four directions. Some followers of the Bon religion believe that Mount Yundrung Gutsek is the sacred Kailash. According to other versions, Tonpa Shenrab moved the power and magic contained in Mount Yundrung Gutsek inside Kailash. At the end of his life in our world, using the axis of the world located on Kailash, he returned to heaven. In any case, Mount Kailash is a sacred place for followers of the Bon religion, symbolizing the place of the god Shang Shung Meri. The teachings and lineage of Meri (Me Ri) were one of the main practices in Shang Shung and are preserved to this day.

Kailash in Hinduism

In Hinduism, Kailash is the abode of God Shiva - the supreme God of gods, destroyer of illusions, master of yoga and tantra. Shiva, along with his wife Parvati, resides on the peak of Kailash in the highest meditative state of Absolute Bliss. According to Vishnu Purana, Kailasa peak is a reflection of Mount Meru, which is the center of all universes in both material and spiritual aspects.

Due to the hemispherical shape of Mount Kailash, it is personified with the lingam - the main symbol of Shiva, the masculine principle. In the Puranas, the Lingam is the manifested image of the Eternal Unmanifested Shiva, who is beyond time, space, qualities and forms. At the base of the lingam there is a yoni - a symbol of shakti, the universal feminine energy. Thus, the sacred lake Manasarovar, located near Kailash, is the personification of yoni and the abode of Parvati, therefore, together with Kailash, it is especially revered among followers of Hinduism. For them, a pilgrimage to Kailash and Manasarovar is, first of all, a meeting with God. Therefore, millions of believers go to the sacred peak every year.

Kailash in Jainism

For followers of Jainism, Kailash is also both a sacred peak and Mount Meru, personifying the center of the universe. Rishabha, who became the first saint in Jainism, achieved nirvana in the Kailash region, thereby marking the beginning of the Tithankara tradition. In the Jain worldview, the world has no beginning or end, and time moves in a circle, like the wheel of existence. Thus, our world has already completed countless time cycles, and countless cycles will also come after our time. Each cycle or “kalachakra” is divided into two half-cycles: growth and decay. In each half-cycle, 24 Tirthankaras are born, the first of which was Rishabha, also known as Adinatha.

stupas at the Dirapuk monastery on the northern slope of Kailash

– Ph.D., MS USSR, St. Petersburg

Kailash - Height: 6.666 (6.714) m. Location: China, Western Tibet, north of Lake Manasarovar Kailash (Kailasa, Kailash) is a mountain in the mountain range of the same name in the Gandhisishan mountain system (Trans-Himalaya), in the south of the Tibetan Plateau in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China Republic. The height of Kailash still remains controversial issue, for example, monks claim that Kailash is 6,666 m high, scientists disagree from 6668 to 6714 m, which is due to the way the heights of mountains are measured in principle. The impossibility of conquering Kailash makes it difficult to make accurate measurements. In addition, the Himalayan mountains are considered young and their height increases on average (taking into account rock weathering) by 0.5-0.6 cm per year. This is not the highest mountain in its area, but it is distinguished from others by its pyramidal shape with a snow cap and edges oriented almost exactly to the cardinal points. On the southern side there is a vertical crack, which is crossed approximately in the center by a horizontal one. It resembles a swastika. Kailash is sometimes called the “Swastika Mountain”. It is one of the main watersheds of South Asia. The four main rivers of Tibet, India and Nepal flow in the Kailash region: Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Karnali. The photo shows how one of the sources of the Ganges River originates from the mountain (the bed of a temporary watercourse, formed along a vertical crack in the central part of the mountain’s body; below, at the foot of the mountain, the bed meets the alluvial cone of the watercourse).

History of ascents. The top of the mountain remains unconquered. In 1985, the famous mountaineer Reinhold Messner received permission to climb from the Chinese authorities, but refused at the last moment. In 2000, a Spanish expedition for a fairly significant amount purchased a permit to conquer Kailash from the Chinese authorities. The team installed base camp at the foot, but they never managed to set foot on the mountain. Thousands of pilgrims blocked the expedition's path. The Dalai Lama, the UN, a number of major international organizations, millions of believers around the world expressed their protest against the conquest of Kailash, and the Spaniards had to retreat.

Religious significance. Some ancient religions of Nepal and China consider it sacred, endowed with divine powers, and worship it. Pilgrimages are made to it for the purpose of performing a kora (ritual circumambulation). Hindus believe that on the top of Kailash there is the abode of the multi-armed Shiva and the entrance to mysterious country Fenugreek. According to the Vishnu Puran tradition, the peak is a representation or image of Mount Sumeru, the cosmic mountain at the center of the universe. In India, the right to make the pilgrimage to Kailash is won through a national lottery. Buddhists consider the mountain to be the habitat of Buddha in Samvara incarnation. Thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world gather here every year during the Tibetan festival. religious holiday Saga Dawa, dedicated to Buddha Shakyamuni.

Wikipedia

Kailash

His name is Yuri Zakharov. He is not a professional climber, but he is a doctor, professor, doctor of science, honored scientist and major general of the medical service at the same time, and also incidentally: a writer, karateka, journalist, film director, cameraman and editor of his films. He searched and five years ago (2004) found the mysterious country of Shambhala. He became the first white man to visit sacred Kailash - main peak of this country. This is the same Kailash that the great mountaineer dreamed of meeting, who created the “Man and the Mountain” museum and built a model of this sacred mountain at its entrance, as a symbol of his dream of the unity of man with the nature of our ancestors.

But, everything is in order. Legends often do not have a clear and unambiguous beginning. It is unknown who first brought information about Shambhala to Europe. But she attracted the minds of a variety of people. It was believed that this was an esoteric concept, the most important energy center of the world, a special heavenly place, a benevolent country that would help establish peace on Earth and even save life on the planet after the next cataclysm such as the global flood, or something worse.

There was another version that emphasized the apocalyptic side of this legend. It was believed that here, according to prophecy, the Messiah should appear and this should coincide with the destruction of the world, or that the supernatural forces of Shambhala would lead to the renewal of the world with the help of “Cosmic Fire” through the destruction of everything old, unsuitable and the implantation of the “New Order”. Mixed in with this was the legend of Agharti, an underground country ruled by the King of the World, based on a connection with Shambhala.

These rumors mixed the concepts of different religions and varieties of the occult. Some legends connected Shambhala with Christianity. At the same time, it was said about the existence in the north of India in Kashmir of graves in which, according to legend, Jesus Christ and his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, are buried, and that it was Christ who would in the future open the country of Shambhala during his second coming. Even now, the Russian Geographical Society, in order to develop scientific tourism, organizes expeditions, for example, to the Himis Monastery, where scrolls of the Tibetan Gospel about the life of Christ in a period not included in the Bible are kept.

Most legends still connect Shambhala with Tibetan Buddhism, which arose on the basis of the older Bon religious movement. It is interesting that Bon used the swastika sign as a magical weapon of greatest power. The word "swastika" was even used as the title of the founder of this religion. Bon, adapted to Buddhism, still exists today. More than half of Tibetans consider themselves to be in the Bon tradition.

In Sanskrit, Shambhala was called Olmo Lungring and, as the director of the Bon Institute for the Study of Religion, J. M. Reynolds, explains, “...symbolically, Olmo Lungring represents the geographical, physical and spiritual center of our world. In the center of the country there is a sacred mountain of nine steps, which connects heaven and earth, representing the world axis, connecting three planes of existence: the heavenly worlds, the earthly and the underworld. The mountain was the place where the heavenly gods of the Clear Light descended to earth.” It has several different names: Shambu Peak or Shampo, Tise (the seat of the Almighty Lord Shiva the Destroyer), Yungdrung Tu Tse (Nine-Storey Swastika Mountain). And the most common name Kailash is pronounced by some as Kailash...

One of the first creators of the legends about Shambhala in Europe was our compatriot, the author of one of the most popular occult doctrines of the last two centuries, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. She was born in 1831 in Ukraine into an authoritative and sociable family of an artillery officer, and the Russian Minister of Finance, Sergei Yulievich Witte, was her cousin.

At the age of 17, this eccentric and ugly girl married the elderly vice-governor of Erivan, where her father then served, and a few months later she left her husband and began her wanderings. She traveled from 1848 to Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, South America, India, tried many times to get to Tibet, and finally, on the fourth time, she succeeded. It’s even possible that she learned something about mountaineering in the process. After Tibet she continued to travel until 1872 in India and Central Asia. In 1851, she first dreamed of meeting the Teacher. Then these Visions were repeated many times and drew her somewhere, demanded something.

Mystically inclined since childhood, she began to spread Buddhism mixed with Hinduism - in her interpretation, which later turned into the original teaching - Theosophy. She believed that the Indian and Tibetan Mahatmas were people from Shambhala with supernatural powers and knowledge. They telepathically conveyed to her what she had written in her famous book, The Secret Doctrine.

Blavatsky believed that Shambhala was located in the Gobi Desert, apparently because the Mongols, Buryats, Kalmyks and other Buddhists believed that Mongolia was “ Nordic country Shambhala” and Blavatsky, of course, knew about this. Some followers of Blavatsky, for example, Helena Roerich, argued that Shambhala was the source of the book “The Secret Doctrine”, and Blavatsky herself was a messenger of the White Brotherhood of Shambhala. Nevertheless, it is completely clear that if she found Shambhala, it was only spiritually. Geographically, Shambhala remained a mystery.

The great Russian artist, scientist and even intelligence officer, the founder of a dynasty of researchers consisting of his wife Elena and son Yuri, paid great attention to this country. A hundred years ago, in 1909, he went on a mountain expedition along a circular route: India, Tibet, Altai, Mongolia, China, Tibet, India. The main, though not advertised, goal of the expedition was the search for Shambhala. Roerich believed that it was in Altai.

Roerich Nikolai Konstantinovich

He, like Blavatsky, connected Shambhala with the Mahatmas and their omnipotence, perceived it poetically, even wrote the book “Shambhala: In Search of a New Era,” in which he spoke about the relationship between Shambhala and Thule - a country inhabited by Hyperboreans, hidden somewhere near the Northern pole and described 300 years BC by the ancient Greek historian Pythias. In his other works, he argued about the connection of Shambhala through tunnels under the Himalayas with the underground country of Agharti, where the gene pool of humanity is stored. At the same time, it is known that the medieval mystic Paracelsus believed that “... the people that Herodotus called Hyperboreans have the current name of Muscovy and a Golden Age awaits them.” In general, the legends seem to have affected Russia as well.

In 1926, N. Roerich, interrupting another expedition in Central Asia, met and handed over to Minister of Foreign Affairs Chicherin a letter from the Mahatmas to the Soviet government and a handful of earth to put on the grave of “...our brother, Mahatma Lenin.” The letter expressed support for Soviet leaders "... seeking the common good." Another public event was held in 1929 in New York, where Nicholas and Elena unveiled the “Roerich Pact” - an international treaty for the protection of world cultural property during hostilities.

Later, their son Y. Roerich translated a number of ancient texts from travelers to Shambhala, from which it is clear that this is a very important country, but it is not clear where it is located. Nevertheless, N. Roerich brought a map of Shambhala to Russia, which lingered for a long time in the storage facilities of the special services. The Roerichs themselves claimed that they visited Shambhala, but whether this is so is a big question. There is an opinion that the Roerichs knew where Shambhala was located, but they were not allowed there, perhaps because, despite connections with numerous intelligence services around the world, N. Roerich did not work for Scotland Yard - the main intelligence agency at that time fighting with China for control over Tibet. The mystery remained unsolved, and after in 1933 E.I. Roerich published in Riga the book “Parting words to the leader” with a portrait of an ideal ruler and with obvious political allusions to the head of the USSR; they apparently had no chance of getting state help to implement their plans.

Maybe the mystery contributed to the fact that Shambhala was often used as a weapon in politics and war. Even Agvan Dorjiev at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, being both a Russian subject and teacher of the Dalai Lama XIII, convinced him to turn to the Russian government for military assistance against the backdrop of the struggle between Britain and China for control over Tibet. At the same time, he presented Russia as Shambhala, and Nicholas II as the reincarnation of its ruler. The tsar, however, did not give money for the war, but built a temple in St. Petersburg in honor of Buddha Kalachakra and contributed to the emergence of interest in Shambhala among N. Roerich, one of the members of the temple’s board of trustees. Another Tibetan lama, Pyotr Badmaev, who served as a court advisor, had previously suggested to Alexander III and Nicholas II to unite the Russian Empire with China, Mongolia and Tibet. It’s good that the kings did not listen to his advice. Otherwise, you see, instead of the Russian Empire, the Chinese Empire would have flourished in our forests long ago.

Russia tried its best to fight for influence in East Asia, including Mongolia and Manchuria, but lost the Russo-Japanese War and gave Port Arthur to Japan, while China regained control over Manchuria. Then there was the First World War and the October Revolution. At this time, on the side of the Bolsheviks for Mongolia, Sukhbaatar fought with his squadron of Kalmyk Buddhists, who promised them by way of propaganda that if they won, they would be reborn into the army of Shambhala. In 1921 he took Ulaanbaatar by storm, but Shambhala remained elusive.

At the beginning of the 20s, the war ended, all the leaders of the warring sides died, including Lenin, Sukhbaatar and their opponent Bogdekhan. However, the policy of exploitation of the legend of Shambhala, begun by Sukhbaatar, continued. For example, the Japanese, trying to strengthen their influence in Manchuria and northern China, spread legends that Japan is Shambhala.

Stalin, knowing about the unsuccessful search for Shambhala by the Roerichs and feeling the futility of mythical hopes, took the path of pragmatic steps to ensure the security of the eastern outskirts of Russia. He believed that the highest lamas of Buryatia and Mongolia were collaborating with Japan and began to pursue a policy of repression against Buddhists. And then he decided that the best way for Russia’s security was to restore order and calm in the region. And he did it with the help of G.K. Zhukov in the battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 and during the liberation of Manchuria in 1945.

Stalin's rivals, most notably the Germans, including their Führer Adolf Hitler, were not so pragmatic. Hitler, who had been interested in mysticism since his youth, adopted the Ariosophy theory about the superiority of the Aryan race. This theory, which originated in the Thule society, named after the mythical country (another name is Hyperborea), was perfect for justifying the seizure of new territories into the possession of the great race. According to him, the Aryan race included, in addition to the Germans, Tibetans and some other nationalities, including the people of the Soviet Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Okrug. It is interesting that the origins of Ariosophy were, among other things, the famous Giordano Bruno, who was not only a great astronomer who went to the stake for his ideas about the infinity of the Universe, but also a philosopher who developed the ideas “On Heroic Enthusiasm”

Hitler was an active member of the Thule Society, and it was in this society that the proposal to use the swastika as a symbol of the Aryans was formed. In Buddhist cultures, the swastika sign was widely used and always to indicate only positive phenomena and associations, as a symbol of happiness and light. (The swastika among ancient Buddhists existed in 2 versions: right and left. The first was a symbol of good, and the second of evil - editor’s note). It was widely used in other cultures. For example, in Russia, Nicholas II issued a 250 ruble banknote with a swastika, the Provisional Government added another 1000 ruble banknote, and the Bolsheviks added 5 thousand. This money circulated before the formation of the USSR. The swastika is often found on earthenware jars in Iraq. There is an opinion that back in 1920 Stalin gave Hitler a piece of jewelry - a gold swastika (Kolovrat) as a party symbol.

Swastika on Russian Money

Swastika 1000 rub. 1918

Swastika for 5000 rubles.

It is also known that 7 thousand years BC, from the Eastern European forests, the Scythians and other Aryans, under the leadership of the great initiate Rama, made the famous Exodus through Persia to India as a protest against human sacrifice and in order to avoid civil war.

In general, if not for the aggressive policies and misanthropic ideology of the Nazis, we might have had more than just negative views of the Aryans. But what happened, happened. Hitler, having come to power, allowed the founding of the Ahnenerbi Institute for the study of the heritage of ancestors. The Institute studied the history of the origin of the Aryan race and tried to uncover the secret of the Vril power that the leaders of the race possessed. Hitler created a theory about the location of the “northern race” of Aryans in Central Asia and Tibet. It was believed that the Tibetans would play an important role after the victory of the Aryan race.

As a result of all these circumstances, the Germans organized annual expeditions to Tibet from 1926 to 1939. The goal of all expeditions was to establish contact with the Aryan ancestors living in Shambhala and its underground analogue - Agharti, and not only living, but also guarding secret occult forces, including number of Vril forces. Hitler believed that the key to the conquest of Eastern Europe and Russia lay with the Aryan keepers of the secrets of Vril in Central Asia.

One of the last German expeditions to Tibet included the famous Austrian climber Heinrich Harrer, Fritz Kasparek's partner in the famous first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger. For this first ascent, in 1938 they received Olympic gold medals together with the Germans Ludwig Wörg and Anderl Heckmaier from the hands of Adolf Hitler.

Harrer

I must say that there was an incident during that ascent that made a strong impression, at least on me. On the ice wall, Heckmeyer, who was walking first, had an ice hook break out and he slid down onto Wörg, who was belaying him. Verg, without hesitation, put his hands up and stopped the fall, but at a high cost. The hands were pierced by cats. From the pain, Verg lost his balance and fell down. But this time Heckmeier managed to grab the rope and arrest his fall. When I remember this episode, I have associations with D. Bruno’s book “On Heroic Enthusiasm.”

Harrer, the only one from this team, was a member of the Nazi party, which, after the end of the Second World War and the defeat of the Nazis, he was ashamed of and even tried to hide. Let's not judge him harshly. What can you do, it was not an easy time, and in general, such is life. From the fact of Hitler’s defeat in the war, it follows that the Germans did not find any Shambhala, like all their predecessors.

But let's return to Yuri Zakharov. Fate decreed that he achieved his goal in searching for Shambhala through medicine. Chance put at his disposal a notebook with recipes from an experienced herbal healer. He managed to manage the information received in a businesslike manner, and also significantly supplement it. Having received a regular medical education in Russia, he entered the Indology Department of the Eastern University in Moscow, but quickly realized where he needed to get real knowledge about the East, and a year later he left to combine his studies in the East with work in Russia. He managed to get a medical education in Sri Lanka and India, study traditional Chinese medicine in China, take a year-long training course at the Shaolin Monastery, and then a course at the Beijing Wushu Institute.

In general, he learned many of the secrets of oriental medicine, ancient traditions of rejuvenation and life extension, and even mastered the so-called practices of immortality. He organized two institutes: the Institute of Traditional Medicine and the Institute of New Medical Technologies. He studied places with increased energy (places of power), in which a person’s performance increases, and he studied their parameters that can be measured with physical instruments. Then he participated in the creation of special devices - generators, which increase people's performance, although for a limited time, after which they need to sleep and rest. He mapped the places of power and built special diagrams based on them, from which it turned out that Kailash was in the center of all the diagrams. In and around Russia, such places are the Kremlin, including the Mausoleum, Sergiev Posad, and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

For research, for genetic analyses, he bought fossil animals and even people in India, and committed other controversial acts. On this occasion, our Patriarch Kirill, then still the Metropolitan of Smolensk, said: “... there is such a professor Zakharov, there is Shambhala, Kailash - so this is all from the evil one.”

There were, of course, clear practical achievements. For example, for a patent on a method for treating insulin-dependent diabetes, he was predicted to receive a Nobel Prize... posthumously, hinting at the interests of insulin manufacturers. He even had to temporarily go abroad and come to Moscow weekly to see his patients. He created a new type of adaptive gymnastics for his patients with cancer and for diabetic children called qigong. Under its influence, spontaneous cures inexplicable by science were observed. He combined all this with the traditional system of healing - wushu gymnastics, with conscious control of breathing, with concentration, work with internal energy, etc. He worked in schools for orphans, compensating for free lessons for children with expensive lessons for adults. His program for age-related correction of the body’s homeostasis “equilibrism” includes the popularization of a healthy lifestyle for the rejuvenation of patients (revitalization) instead of plastic surgery.

With such baggage, he quickly gathered around himself a large clientele of people who wanted to become young and healthy, which included almost the entire Moscow elite and some members of the government. He began to publish many books on herbal medicine, as well as the socio-political magazine “Know”, the majority of whose editorial board consists of high-ranking employees of the Russian intelligence services. He launched his own websites on the Internet: www. etnofit. ru, www. nirvana-tour. ru, www. znat. ru, www. young-life. ru, www. oncology. ru.

Yuri Zakharov prepared for his expedition for three years, or, one might say, his whole life. He studied everything that was known about Shambhala. Unlike Stalin, Hitler, the Japanese and other politicians, he did a lot personally. He personally studied the history of the East and the treatises of Eastern scientists. I personally discovered that various sources provide inconsistent information about the geography and history of Shambhala, that everything in them is presented inconsistently. And only comparison, comparison of several sources in Hindi, Sanskrit, English, not counting the Russian language and maps of the General Staff, made it possible to outline the route of the expedition.

He was aware of the expeditions and plans of his contemporaries, who, for their part, also followed his plans and wrote their books and reports. These are Ufa ophthalmologist Ernest Muldashev, with whom he had serious disagreements, Alla Kalyanova, a participant in his expedition, Tomsk traveler E.A. Kovalevsky and others.

Muldashev, for example, believed that Kailash was an artificial structure, hollow inside and created by previous civilizations: the Atlanteans and Lemurians, who themselves went inside and sat there for years in a state of “samadhi”, not consuming anything from the outside world, but not dying either same time. And when cataclysms happen on earth, they will come out of their shelter and save the world. He also believed that the “mirror of time” and the “laser beam” guard the gates to Shambhala so that no one enters there.

Zakharov spoke sarcastically about these statements. He was also skeptical about the results of the study of the East by women: Blavatsky, E. Roerich, considering them “made up.” The greatest respect, in his opinion, deserves David Nel, who managed to make such an impression on the elite of the East that she was even offered the Dalai Lama and Tashi Lama as teachers for further improvement. She, however, refused such an honor, adopted a young lama (monk) and settled with him in Switzerland in her house, which was called the Tibetan monastery.

Yuri believed that Shambhala was a certain territory in Western Tibet in the area of ​​Mount Kailash, where no foreigners were ever allowed. Even the ubiquitous Japanese were unable to break through there, either in past centuries or now.

Zakharov was lucky. Just at this time, China opened previously closed areas of Western Tibet near Mount Kailash to visitors and was about to establish a strategic partnership with Russia.

From Yu. Zakharov it turned out that Shambhala is the ancient kingdom of Shang-Shung, which existed before the 7th century and has now disappeared, with its capital Kunglung Nulghar, located in accordance with ancient tantric sources in the valley of the Sutlej River. Kunglung was famous as the "Silver Palace of the Garuda Valley".

Castle

It was from the Garuda Valley (a tributary of the Sutlej) that, according to most orientalists, tantric teachings spread throughout Tibet.

The only problem was that old Kunglung was not even on the most detailed General Staff maps. And finding it became the first important task of the expedition.

The second and, apparently, main goal of the expedition was to climb Kailash (6174 m, according to other sources 6400 m). It rises alone above the high plateau of Western Tibet. From this area, like from a biblical paradise, flow four rivers (all sacred): Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Karneli, which is one of the sources of the Ganges. These rivers flow from the mountain in perpendicular directions like a swastika.

The main problem here was that climbing a sacred mountain, from the point of view of Buddhists, is a violation of all that is holy. Moreover, even getting close to her is not easy. There are two ritual routes around the mountain, the passage of which is called kora. The outer crust extends several tens of kilometers from the mountain. All groups of pilgrims who are given permission to make the outer kora are assigned a "liaison officer" from the Chinese intelligence services. In terms of time, the outer cortex takes from three days to a week with numerous ritual actions (prostrate in four places from which the mountain is visible, prayers, etc.).

Almost no one is allowed to visit the inner bark for religious reasons. According to Buddhist laws, only a pilgrim who has walked the outer kora at least 13 times can be admitted to the inner kora. For souvenir photos, pilgrims with special permits are taken to the beginning of the inner kora trail, where two monasteries are located to control the situation.

A year before Zakharov, the French somehow received permission from the authorities to climb Kailash. But then the entire Buddhist community rebelled, the Dalai Lama personally appealed to the leader of the expedition with a convincing request not to do this, and the French retreated.

Yu. Zakharov, in order to get to the inner crust, resorted to a “little trick”. By the nature of his activity, he had a very high qualification in esoteric practice - dzogchen (highest perfection) and convinced the receiving party that it was quite appropriate to perform such a practice at the foot of Mount Kailash itself or even on its slopes. It is unlikely that the intelligence services of the receiving party would not figure out such a “little trick.” Most likely, they simply turned a blind eye to this, perhaps by prior agreement between the intelligence services. As a result, Yu. Zakharov managed to send a “liaison officer” with part of the group to the outer crust, and he himself attempted to climb Kailash.

Already during the preparation of the expedition throughout 2004, problems arose one after another, as if some force was doing everything possible to prevent the trip from taking place. For various reasons, eight of the twelve original participants dropped out, including, according to Zakharov, all climbers. Of the eight sponsors, not a single one remained at the start of the expedition. But at the same time, some forces provided unexpected help. He was the first to be given permission to visit all territories, even previously closed ones, and already in September, directly in Lhasa before the start of the expedition. It is possible that these “some forces” were again the special services.

On the eve of the expedition leaving the last hotel for the field in the evening, some unknown Chinese approached Yu. Zakharov and mysteriously warned that he did not advise them to leave. However, after a night of deliberation, in the morning they drove from Nepal to Tibet. According to expedition member Alla Kalyanova, already at the border it became clear that two representatives of the special services were traveling with them, one of whom was named Sergei. The next day, after they crossed the border into China, it was closed due to military operations in the surrounding area, but the border behind them was no longer of interest to them. Ahead was Western Tibet.

At the first pass, from which a view of Kailash opened up, Yu. Zakharov felt the border of inner Shambhala, like a “thermal curtain”. Kalyanova testifies that indeed, at a distance of one step across this border, a difference was felt. The special forces took out a spectrometer, a scanner (for viewing a wide range of radio waves), a computer and a small power station from their luggage. They contacted the Center via satellite phone to “reorient” the satellites and see what it all looked like from space. An hour later they saw on the computer screen something like a funnel, a screw or a flower, which Zakharov called an eight-petalled lotus, known from esoteric literature.

When approaching the valley of the Sutlej River in the middle of the desert with traces of sandstorms, they came across an asphalt road with poplars planted along the edges, reminiscent of the remains of a military unit, because of which this area was apparently closed to foreigners. For orientation on the ground, at road intersections, satellite equipment was once again used to understand which road to take. Yu. Zakharov and his group walked along the Sutlej River, found a bridge across the river, decorated with lung-ta flags, and entered the Garuda valley. Then everything was simple. In the valley, a hill with a diameter of 100 meters and a height of 50 opened in front of the participants, on the hill there were gray-red rocks with traces of the ruins of ancient buildings, and in the distance the rocks with many caves acquired a silvery color due to inclusions large quantity mica. This is where the name “Silver Palace” comes from. Before them, the Italian professor Tuchi visited here, but did not take photographs. At the mouth of the Garuda Valley, images of Buddha and a swastika were discovered in the tower of the monastery. And in front of the entrance to the main hall of the monastery hung an old bast map of Shambhala, exactly the same as the one the Roerichs brought in their time, and which hung in Zakharov’s house in Moscow. This is how the capital of Shambhala was found. Two years later, Tomsk tourist E. Kovalevsky drove along different roads for a week before he found the right direction and ended up in the Garuda Valley, because local residents and, especially, visiting drivers did not know anything about it, or did not want to talk.

After filming in the capital of Shambhala, they went to Kailash, and in accordance with the conceived plan, they sent a “liaison officer” along with part of the group to the outer crust, and the five of them went to the inner crust, where few people had ever been, and among the Europeans they were definitely the first: Yu. Zakharov with his son Pavel, two special forces soldiers and A. Kalyanova, who insisted that she too be taken into the restricted zone.

Coming 1

Further, the stories of Zakharov and Kalyanova diverge. Zakharov says that from climbing equipment they had nothing but ice axes, and the route was generally unknown. The only thing they knew was that they had to go around Mount Nanda, located next to Kailash, which is associated with the riding bull of Lord Shiva. They expected to cross the inner crust and climb the mountain with a maximum of two overnight stays, although they had no experience of high-altitude ascents. Kalyanova believes that the path to the top for Yuri and Pavel was secured with climbing ropes.

Already on the first day of the journey, in the evening they felt attacks of altitude sickness: headache, apathy, weakness. Nevertheless, we stopped for the night near the Southern ridge, along which an acceptable path to the top was visible. Even during the day, they encountered unusual facts, either of nature or of the psyche. As soon as they closed their eyes and then opened them, they saw glowing mutually perpendicular stripes in the sky like a swastika. Perhaps this is due to the appearance of the mountain, the white snowy slope of which is dotted with black perpendicular stripes, which most likely gave it the name “Swastika Mountain”.

Coming 2

3 coming

For the night, two tents were set up: one for people, the other for equipment with a mini-power station. Yuri communicated via satellite phone with the participants walking along the outer crust and with the Center. Then I set the task: install equipment and scan and record everything that happens on the air in the maximum possible frequency range. A three-hour shift was established. In addition, several dozen water samples were taken from surrounding lakes and streams for analysis.

We slept poorly. At night, son Pavel woke up Yuri to show him mysterious atmospheric phenomena - flashes in the sky every 3-5 seconds. Something like electric balls or northern lights. Even in the evening, a group of Tibetans (yogis) approached them from the opposite side of the path, stopping about a hundred meters from them, perhaps for help and insurance. At night, the same electric balls rotated above them in the form of a ring. It must be said that Roerich described the same phenomena in his works.

Then again there is a difference in the description of events. Yuri writes that by the morning of the ascent the weather had suddenly deteriorated, a strong wind blew, snow began to fall, and visibility dropped. Still, they decided to go to the top, realizing that they would not have a second attempt. They will simply never be allowed near the mountain again.

Two people went upstairs: Yu Zakharov and his son Pavel.

Zakharov on Kailash

Sergei was left observing in the camp, although they had no contact. The climb to the south ridge took three hours. Further along the slope of Kailash itself they tried to climb to the top. It seemed that everything was going fine, in the gaps in the fog they already saw the end of the path, but in poor visibility conditions they ran into a wall 20-40 m high, which was impossible to pass without climbing equipment. The altimeter showed a height of 6200 m. We had to turn down, taking a photo with the flag at the reached height and leaving the honor of conquering Kailash to future climbers.

Kalyanova writes that she woke up late. Sergei, who was on duty at the computer, showed two dots on the screen: Yuri and Pavel, said that they were already at the top, took photographs for a long time, even someone from the Center on a satellite phone said: “Professor, stop showing off.”

On the top

They're coming down now. He also said that when asked where to set up a banner for a photograph in the open press, he advised them to go down lower so that no confusion would arise. And he added that if they descend safely, then a complex precedent will arise, consisting in the fact that only Gods or equals to them can be on Kailash. Thus, Kalyanova has no talk of bad weather. And there was also communication (via satellite phone).

By noon, the climbers came down to the tent blue, frostbitten, and had difficulty catching their breath from oxygen cylinders. We decided to complete the inner bark. The greatest difficulties arose when overcoming the bridge between Kailash and Nanda at an altitude of 5900 m. At this time, instead of snow, according to Yu. Zakharov, it began to hail. It was only when they arrived at the start of the path the next day, having completed the inner crust, that the sun came out again and the weather improved. On the southern slope of the mountain we saw two crosses, one of which is very similar to a swastika.

Thus ended this expedition, during which the first European visited at least the slopes of Mount Kailash. Did Yu. Zakharov step on the “top” of the sacred mountain or not? Let's not discuss this. All the mountains of the Himalayas are sacred. Climbing to Kanchenjunga is allowed only if you do not step on the “top” with a diameter of 10 meters. Has anyone broken this “taboo”? We will assume that no one violated, just as Yu. Zakharov did not step on the “top” of Kailash and did not desecrate the holy of holies.

Zakharov after descent

One can, of course, doubt the absolute effectiveness of Yu. Zakharov’s immortality practices, based on the fact that one hundred percent mortality rate of the population has been recorded on planet Earth, but the discovery of Shambhala and the first video filming of it former capital you can't take it away from him.

Nicholas Roerich in his book “Supramundane”, volume 1, wrote: “You have noticed how peoples are pushing the concept of Shambhala to the north. Finally, among the Samoyeds and Kamchadals there is a legend about a wonderful land beyond midnight. The reasons for this retraction are varied. Someone wanted to hide the location of our Abode. Someone has pushed away the responsibility of touching something difficult. Someone suspected a neighbor of being particularly wealthy. But, in essence, it turns out that all peoples know about the Forbidden Land and consider themselves unworthy to have it within their borders.”

Well said, but a hundred years ago. Now, apparently, something has changed in the worldview. A mere mortal man has entered the sacred mountain and lives, perhaps, under the punishing sword of fate hanging over him for breaking a taboo. Essentially an extreme situation. The 21st century is the century of extreme sports. They are found everywhere. Extreme mountaineering is developing at a crazy pace - solo, others extreme species sports. Where should the common man go?

Perhaps extreme philosophy is the path to insight. Therefore, we will look forward with optimism!