Mount Kailash and Related Topics

Lake Manasarovar

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Mount Naimona'nyi (Gurla Mandhata) and Lake Manasarovar

An 18th-century map of lake Manasarovar by the Jesuit Joseph Tiefenthaler.

Satellite view of lakes Manasarovar (right) and Rakshastal with Mount Kailash in the background

Monuments and Mount Kailash near the lake

Lake Manasarovar (Sanskrit: मानसरोवर), also called mTsho Mapham or mTsho Ma-dros-pa locally; , is a high altitude freshwater lake fed by the Kailash Glaciers near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China.

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.

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.

Brahmaputra River

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Trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, India, and Bangladesh.

A view of sunset in the Brahmaputra from Dibrugarh

Rivers of Bangladesh, including the Brahmaputra

Rowing competition of Sualkuchi at Brahmaputra River

Brahmaputra River seen from a SPOT satellite

The Brahmaputra and its tributaries in northeastern India and Bangladesh

James Rennell's 1776 map shows the Brahmaputra's flow before an earthquake on 2 April 1762 and the Teesta River flowing in three channels to the Ganga before a flood in 1787.

Silhouette of a fisherman on boat during sunset at Brahmaputra River

An Aerial view of the Dhola–Sadiya Bridge

Ranaghat Bridge or Churni River Bridge on Brahmaputra River near Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh

With its origin in the Manasarovar Lake region, near Mount Kailash, on the northern side of the Himalayas in Burang County of Tibet where it is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo River, it flows along southern Tibet to break through the Himalayas in great gorges (including the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon) and into Arunachal Pradesh.

Lake Rakshastal

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Lake Rakshastal (Sanskrit: राक्षसताल; ) is a saltwater lake in Tibet Autonomous Region, China, lying just west of Lake Manasarovar and south of Mount Kailash.

Shiva

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One of the principal deities of Hinduism.

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.

Indus River

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Transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia.

The course of the Indus in the disputed Kashmir region; the river flows through Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan, administered respectively by India and Pakistan

The major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization fl 2600–1900 BCE in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan

Confluence of Indus and Zanskar rivers. The Indus is at the left of the picture, flowing left-to-right; the Zanskar, carrying more water, comes in from the top of the picture.

Skyline of Sukkur along the shores of the Indus River

The Indus River near Skardu, in Gilgit–Baltistan.

Lansdowne Bridge and Ayub Bridge connecting the cities of Rohri and Sukkur in Sindh, Pakistan.

The traditional source of the river is the Sênggê Kanbab (a.k.a. Sênggê Zangbo, Senge Khabab) or "Lion's Mouth", a perennial spring, not far from the sacred Mount Kailash marked by a long low line of Tibetan chortens.

Sutlej

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Longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan.

Using inflated animal skins to cross the Sutlej River, c. 1905

Sutlej River in Kinnaur Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India

Cattle grazing on the banks of the river in Rupnagar, Punjab, India

Satluj River near Shahkot, Punjab, India

Sutlej entering India from Tibet near Shipki La, c. 1856

The Zhangzhung built a towering palace in the Upper Sutlej Valley called Kyunglung, the ruins of which still exist today near the village of Moincêr, southwest of Mount Kailash (Mount Ti-se).

Yarlung Tsangpo

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Upper stream of the Brahmaputra River located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China.

Yarlung Tsangpo River as it courses through Tibet, with peaks Namche Barwa and Gyala Peri. The picture is centered on 29.156°N, 93.983°W

Originating at Angsi Glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, it later forms the South Tibet Valley and Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon before passing into the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India.