A report on Shiva and Mount Kailash

An ancient sculpture of Shiva at the Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra. 6th century CE

The Pashupati seal discovered during excavation of the Indus Valley archaeological site of Mohenjo-Daro and showing a possible representation of a "yogi" or "proto-Shiva" figure as Paśupati (= "Lord of the Animals"). Circa 2350-2000 BCE

Three-headed Shiva, Gandhara, 2nd century AD

Lingodbhava is a Shaiva sectarian icon where Shiva is depicted rising from the Lingam (an infinite fiery pillar) that narrates how Shiva is the foremost of the Trimurti; Brahma on the left and Vishnu on the right are depicted bowing to Shiva in the centre.

Ardhanarishvara sculpture, Khajuraho, depicting Shiva with goddess Parvati as his equal half. In the Ardhanarisvara concept, the icon is presented as half-man and half woman.

Oleograph by Raja Ravi Varma depicting a Shiva-centric Panchayatana. A bearded Shiva sits in the centre with his wife Parvati and their infant son Ganesha; surrounded by (clockwise from left upper corner) Ganesha, Devi, Vishnu, and Surya. Shiva's mount is the bull Nandi below Shiva.

Shiva with Parvati. Shiva is depicted three-eyed, the Ganges flowing through his matted hair, wearing ornaments of serpents and a skull garland, covered in ashes, and seated on a tiger skin.

A seated Shiva holds an axe and deer in his hands.

Chola dynasty statue depicting Shiva dancing as Nataraja (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

The 10th century five headed Shiva, Sadashiva, Cambodia

Shiva sculpture, Dieng Plateau in Java, Indonesia

In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash as well as a householder with his wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya.

- Shiva

In Hinduism, it is traditionally recognized as the abode of Shiva, who resided there along with his consort goddess Parvati and their children, Ganesha and Kartikeya.

- Mount Kailash

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Ganges

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Trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh.

Devprayag, confluence of Alaknanda (right) and Bhagirathi (left), and beginning of the Ganges proper.

The Himalayan headwaters of the Ganges River in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India.

The Gandhi Setu Bridge across the Ganges in Patna, Bihar

A sailboat on the main distributory of the Ganges in Bangladesh, the Padma river.

The Ganges delta in a 2020 satellite image.

A 1908 map showing the course of the Ganges and its tributaries.

The River Ganges at Kolkata, with Howrah Bridge in the background

Hardinge Bridge, Bangladesh, crosses the Ganges-Padma River. It is one of the key sites for measuring streamflow and discharge on the lower Ganges.

Chromolithograph, Indian woman floating lamps on the Ganges, by William Simpson, 1867

Descent of Ganga, painting by Raja Ravi Varma c. 1910

Preparations for cremations on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi], 1903. The dead are being bathed, wrapped in cloth, and covered with wood. The photograph has a caption, "Who dies in the waters of the Ganges obtains heaven."]

Women and children at a bathing ghat on the Ganges in Banares (Varanasi), 1885.

Shiva, as Gangadhara, bearing the Descent of the Ganges, as the goddess Parvati, the sage Bhagiratha, and the bull Nandi look on (circa 1740).

A procession of Akharas marching over a makeshift bridge over the Ganges River. Kumbh Mela at Allahabad, 2001.

Head works of the Ganges canal in Haridwar (1860). Photograph by Samuel Bourne.

The Ganges Canal highlighted in red stretching between its headworks off the Ganges River in Haridwar and its confluences with the Jumna (Yamuna) River in Etawah and with the Ganges in Cawnpore (now Kanpur).

A girl selling plastic containers in Haridwar for carrying Ganges water.

The catla (Catla catla) is one of the Indian carp species that support major fisheries in the Ganges

The threatened gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a large fish-eating crocodilian that is harmless to humans

The Gangetic dolphin in a sketch by Whymper and P. Smit, 1894.

People bathing and washing clothes in the Ganges in Varanasi.

The Bhagirathi rises at the foot of Gangotri Glacier, at Gomukh, at an elevation of 4356 m and being mythologically referred to as residing in the matted locks of Shiva; symbolically Tapovan, which is a meadow of ethereal beauty at the feet of Mount Shivling, just 5 km away.

However, since her turbulent force would also shatter the earth, Bhagiratha persuades Shiva in his abode on Mount Kailash to receive the Ganges in the coils of his tangled hair and break her fall.