by Uden Sherpa
The Legend of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar
Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar are the only two places in the whole of Tibet that were visited by Lord Buddha, accompanied by five hundred Arhats. During the turning of the Three Wheels of the Dharma, Buddha Shakyamuni extensively explained the merits of building images. So Indra (the king of gods) offered precious articles of the gods, Ananda (the king of Serpents or Nagas) offered precious articles of the Nagas and Bimbisara (the king of Magadh) offered gold and silver, etc. to the Buddha and requested him to have three images of the Buddha made, as a means of generating merit for the sentient beings in the future.
On the instructions of the Buddha, the master craftsman Viswakarma made three images of the Buddha that were blessed by Buddha Shakyamuni. A fifteen-foot image was taken to realm of the gods, a ten-foot image was taken to the realm of the Nagas and a two-foot image of the Buddha was kept at Magadh, in order for the devotees to make offerings and pay homage.
One day, Mahakala miraculously took the image of the Buddha from Magadh to his palace at Lake Lanka, located at the foot of Mount Kailash, and made offerings. Then he thought a special place was needed to keep such a sacred statue and attempted to carry Mount Kailash on his back to the realm of the Nagas in Lake Lanka.
Buddha Shakyamuni and the 500 Arhats flew from Bodhgaya to Mount Kailash and landed on the rock known as Kyil Khor Teng, or ‘Ganachakra Basin of Arhats’, on the western face of Mount Kailash. Buddha left his footprint on four corners of Mount Kailash and prevented Mahakala from carrying Mount Kailash to the realm of the Nagas. These four footprints of the Buddha are known as the ‘Four Nails Holding Mount Kailash’, because they prevented Mahakala from carrying the mountain away. Then Buddha sat on the rock in front of Mount Kailash and gave teachings to the Nagas residing in Lake Manasarovar and Lake Lanka. Today, Buddhist pilgrims call this rock the ‘Throne of the Buddha’.
Mount Kailash is the only holy place in the world that is regarded as equally sacred by Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Bonpos. To the Theravadan Buddhists, it is the abode of Sthavira Angaja, with an assembly of 1,300 Arhats; and to the Vajrayana practitioners it is the mandala or palace of Chakrasamvara. The sacred nature of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar is mentioned in the Sutras.
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Time after time there come some big events and then Buddhist Lamas and probably their best pupils put on multicolored dresses, gaudy masks and start walking in circles drowsily waving their hands and legs.
From 1st to 15th of September there was Ladakh Festival in Leh and around. Besides national costumes and buddhist rituals it also included Polo games being there either as an essential part of Ladakhi culture or only for the sake of audience not getting too bored from excessive national specifics.
Using term ‘drowsily’, I’m not trying to mock at totally respected lamas, not in any way. But if we compare what Tibetans call a dance and what we, children of trance and rap culture usually refer to speaking about dances, then no other word can come to mind. Read more »
Tibetan monks create an exquisite sand mandala - the Yamantaka mandala. Throwing the sand from the mandala to the ocean. Bondi pavilion, Sydney, Australia, December 2008.
Day 11, part 4:
The monks in procession, playing drum, cymbals and long trumpet, cross the wide sands of Bondi beach between the pavilion and the ocean.
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Day 11 of creation of the Yamantaka sand Mandala - dissolution ceremony.
Day 11, part 3:
Gen Lama gathers sand from the doors of the palace at each of the cardinal directions, to open the mandala before its transformation.
Gen Lama gathers sand from the doors of the palace at each of the cardinal directions, to open the mandala before its transformation. Read more »
The last day of creation of the Yamantaka Mandala - Sydney, December 2008.
Day 11, part 2:
The free Tibetan national flag (banned in Tibet) flutters below the surf life savers flag on Bondi beach.
A monk returns unused coloured sand to their containers, ready to be used in the next sand mandala project. Read more »
The last day of creating of the Yamantaka mandala in Sydney, December 2008.
Day 11, Part 1:
The completed sand mandala of Yamantaka, made by monks of the Gyuto monastery, at Bondi pavilion December 14 2008.
Detail of the outer ring of the mandala, representing samsara, ‘our’ world of pain, suffering (desire) and death - a naga serpent lives in the mountain protecting treasure, a stupa is there as well, perhaps representing the role of Buddhism in subduing the elemental forces, making them protectors of the dharma. Read more »
Tibetan monks are finishing to create the Yamantaka sand mandala.
Day 10:
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Tibetan monks create an exquisite sand mandala - the Yamantaka mandala - in Sydney, Australia, December 2008.
Day 9:
The Yamantaka Mandala has reached the stage where only the final surrounding circle, representing samsara, is to be completed.
The outer ring of curlicues in the predominant five colours represents the five elements of wood, fire, earth, water and metal. Read more »
The 8th day of creation of sand mandala - the Yamantaka mandala.
Day 8:
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In Sydney, Australia, Tibetan monks living in exile create the Yamantaka sand mandala, December 2008. The entire mandala is created from memory.
Day 6:
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Buddhism, Himalaya, Tibet | Leo Golan | 
January 5, 2009 4:45 pm | 
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