Mount Kailash: Sacred peak at center of Himalayan flood tragedy

More than 100 of the nearly 1,300 people missing after devastating floods in the Nepal-Tibet border region were pilgrims heading to Mount Kailash, one of the Himalayas' most sacred sites. The disaster has killed at least 168 people and displaced hundreds more across the region.

Mount Kailash, rising over 6,400 meters in southwestern Tibet near the borders with Nepal and India, holds deep religious significance for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and followers of the Tibetan Bon tradition. The peak, along with nearby Lake Manasarovar, has been central to Sanskrit religious and literary traditions for centuries.

For Hindus, the mountain is considered the abode of Shiva and Parvati. Bon followers regard it as a seat of spiritual power linked to their founder, Tonpa Shenrab. Scholars have also connected Kailash to Mount Meru, the mythical center of the world in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology.

Pilgrims traditionally walk a 53-kilometer circuit around the mountain rather than climb it, a journey believed to cleanse sins that takes about three days. Hindus and Buddhists circle clockwise, while Bon followers go counterclockwise. Many also bathe in Lake Manasarovar for spiritual purification.

India operates an official Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage from June through August or September, with routes through Uttarakhand and Sikkim. Private groups also organize trips via Nepal.

Authorities report 165 dead and 826 missing in Nepal, with three dead and 558 missing in Tibet. Among the missing are 179 Indians, 65 Americans, 35 Australians, 33 Britons, and 25 Canadians. Spiritual leader Sadhguru said 77 people from his Isha Foundation were at an immigration center in Gyirong when the floods hit.

The floods followed a glacier collapse that sent debris downstream through communities on both sides of the border. Similar flash floods have become more frequent as warming temperatures destabilize Himalayan ice.