Kailash Kora: Mount Kailash shining in the morning sun

Tibet:Mount Kailash,Gangs Rin-po-che, meaning "precious jewel of snows" གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ། 6638m, originally uploaded by reurinkjan.

Mount Kailash (also known as Kailasa Parvata, Kangri Rinpoche, Tise mountain, Gangs Rinpoche, etc.) is a peak in the Gangdise Mountains, a part of the Himalayas in Tibet. The peak is located near Lake Manasarowar and Lake Rakshastal in Tibet.

Some of the longest rivers in Asia such as Indus River, Sutlej River (a tributary of Indus River), Brahmaputra River, and Karnali River (a tributary of Ganges River) all originate in Mount Kailash-Lake Manasarovar region.

Mount Kailash is considered a sacred place for pilgrimage by religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the Bon faith. Every year, thousands pilgrims travel to Kailash, a pilgrimage tradition going back thousands of years. Pilgrims of many religions believe that circumambulating Mount Kailash on foot is a holy ritual that will bring good fortune. The path around Mount Kailash is 52 km (32 miles) long.

Mount Kailash is located in a particularly remote and inhospitable area of the Tibetan Himalayas. A few modern amenities such as benches, resting places and refreshment kiosks, restaurants etc. exist there for the pilgrims.

According to Hinduism Lord Shiva resides at the summit of the legendary Kailasa, where he meditates along with his wife Goddess Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya.

Tantric Buddhists believe that Mount Kailash is the home of the Buddha Demchok (Demchog or Chakrasamvara) who represents supreme bliss. There are many sacred sites in the region associated with Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) whose Tantric practices in holy sites around Tibet are credited with establishing Buddhism as the main religion of Tibet in the 7th-8th century AD.

The Bon, a religion and the oldest still-extant spiritual tradition which predates Buddhism in Tibet, maintains that the entire mystical region and the nine-story Swastika Mountain are the seat of all spiritual powers.

Following the Chinese army entering Tibet in 1950 and the Sino-Indian War of 1962, pilgrimage to Mount Kailash was stopped from 1954 to 1978. After that, a limited number of Indian pilgrims have been allowed to visit Mount Kailash, under the supervision of the Chinese and Indian governments.