Mt. Kailash - Manasarorvar Sojourn - 7

The 28th of August 2010 had the entire group waking up at 3:00 a.m. as we had planned to leave Paryang by 4:00 a.m.  This strategy was necessitated as we wished to avoid getting stranded by the Chinese road authorities like we were yesterday. We reckoned that if we were to start early before the road authorities got down to work, we stood a better chance of reaching Manasarovar on time. That is precisely the way things worked out and we were at Manasarovar by 10:30 a.m.  The books give the Paryang - Manasarovar distance as 277 km, but it certainly didn't appear to be that much.  Perhaps another significant fact was that the road on this stretch is in a much better condition and large parts of it are well laid out and tarred.

It was a clear and brightly sunny day when we arrived at Manasarovar. The camp site was very attractive and had a neat arrangement of alpine tents, medical tent, latrine tents and a large tent for dining and assembly. The day was exhilarating and the air felt fresh and invigorating. We had a refreshing cup of tea and later a sumptuous breakfast before we headed towards the lake. The books give Manasarovar's altitude as 4558 m or 15,500 feet.

White tents were the Drivers and staff quarters

The Manasarovar Lake

We meditated at the lake for a considerable time before we returned to the camp for lunch.  We were advised not to enter the waters as the Isha Foundation and Sadhguru had envisioned a certain set of procedure to be followed before one enters the hallowed waters. The holy dip and the bath was to come the following day. Accordingly the entire group stayed away from entering the waters respecting Sadhguru's wishes.

We spent the entire afternoon and evening lazing in our tents and taking leisurely strolls around the vast camping area. The alpine tents themselves were larger than the ones I had seen at Greenland. They were taller, more spacious and comfortable. We were accommodated three to a tent and I had Ramesh Perumal and Balamurugan as tent mates.

(Inside of the tent at Mansarovar)

The day being bright and sunny, it was uncomfortably warm within the tent in the afternoon. Later at night it got quite cold and chilly and we were snugly ensconced within the sleeping bag for the night.

The following day we were up very early and had assembled by 6:45 a.m. for the procedure and dip in the holy lake. We were asked to dip our left palms in a liquid mixture consisting of sandalwood powder and other ingredients and smear that on our scalps. Later we were advised a series of mantra chants and shlokas and following all the set procedure we took a shivering holy dip in the cold holy waters of the lake.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the ambience of the lake. A few returned to the edge of the lake and on the whole we were really blessed to have a great stay at Manasarovar.

The reason why I stress that we were blessed is that the earlier B3 group had miserable weather while at Manasarovar and they had to perform the entire religious procedure before the dip in pouring rain and in cold shivers. A few of them reportedly went into a mild shock when they subsequently entered the waters for a holy dip and I was told that they had to be greatly assisted by the Sherpas.

I give here the many photos that reflect the varying moods of nature at Lake Manasarovar. It was too scenic and picturesque to describe in words:

Varying moods of nature at Mansasarovar

So after having had a great time at Manasarovar for the day we retired at night eagerly looking for tomorrow when we would be leaving for Shershong to begin the Mt. Kailash Parikrama.

Sunset at Manasarovar